To pick up the pieces
by WildVegeta
Summary: Sequel to Broken Glass. / Years after Frieza's death, a young boy is shoved into Vegeta's life. He needs help. He needs a family. He needs a home. Only problem is, he looks exactly like Frieza. / Warnings: Not as cruel as BG, but will have abuse and torture.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N:** Hello, everyone! I decided to give this story a shot at the sequel thing. Broken Glass was one of the stories I enjoyed writing the most, and a lot of ideas still hover in my head that I wish I had put in the original story. However, this will be a very short story.

I really hope you guys enjoy it.

To the people who are new, I strongly recommend reading Broken Glass first.

 **Warnings:** This story will be far less violent and cruel than Broken Glass, but there will still be violence, abuse and torture, so consider yourselves warned.

Enjoy!

* * *

It was raining extremely heavily.

Winter in the city was often hard, but this was one of the heaviest ones.

Vegeta was staring out the window, watching the rain pour down as he waited for Bulma to get ready so that they could leave.

He finally heard her high heels clicking hurriedly and he turned around, his frown in place as he prepared to berate her for her tardiness.

"Alright, let's go!" she said as she grabbed her coat and umbrella, moving hurriedly to spare herself her husband's nagging.

"About damned time, woman."

"Oh, quit it! As if someone would say something to you for arriving late."

Vegeta rolled his eyes and opened the door for her. Their limousine was waiting outside for them.

As their fancy black car sped away, Bulma stared for a while at the rapidly shrinking mansion she shared with her family before turning to her husband, who was busy on his cellphone, as usual, a scowl on his face. She smiled for a while before her phone buzzed in her purse. She quickly took it out before turning to Vegeta again as she texted her clients back.

"Hey, so will you pick up Bulla from daycare?"

"Yeah." he grumbled, barely paying attention to her.

"Can you make it to Trunks's school tomorrow for the parent-teacher meeting?"

"My mom will be there."

She looked up for her phone to find him staring intently at his phone, as he often did when he got bad news and was calculating how to react in a cool and professional manner. She smiled again.

"Are you ready for your meeting today? I heard Matsanaya Co. will be there."

Vegeta finally looked up from his phone.

"You're chatty today." he said, looking at her as if trying to figure out what she wanted.

"I'm always chatty." she answered, but his glare finally made her spill. "I also kinda wanted to ask you if you've thought about that big Ouji tradition we spoke about last week. The thing your father used to do..."

"I haven't done it since I got the company, why would I start now?" he growled, his eyes turning back to his phone.

"Well, your mom said it's Ouji's birthday this year and it would be - "

"Bulma." he growled, putting his phone away. "I already said no. My mom took the hint. Why can't you do the same?"

"But, I - "

"This is your stop." he said, as they pulled over in front of Capsule Corporation. Bulma sighed and rolled her eyes before leaning over and giving him a peck on the lips. He cracked an almost imperceptible smile and kissed her cheek, too.

"Don't forget. Bulla, daycare. I love you."

"I won't." he answered.

* * *

"Miss Brief?"

Bulma looked up from the stack of papers to look at her secretary.

"Yes?" she asked.

"Someone is here to see you."

"I'm busy." she answered. "Tell them to get an appointment."

"He's... a policeman, Mrs. Briefs."

Bulma furrowed her eyebrows.

"Is it about my dad burning his lab again?" she asked. "Because that should be discussed with him. Capsule Corp. doesn't - "

"No, ma'am. He said it had to do with your husband."

"Vegeta?" she asked, furrowing her eyebrows even further. Worry crept into her stomach and her hand shot out to her cellphone. "Send him in." she said as she texted Vegeta if he was okay.

A man walked inside, but he didn't look like a policeman. He was wearing a black suit, complete with a black tie and a black briefcase. He walked straight and briskly, carrying himself like a person who was about to deliver some very upsetting news. Bulma stood up as soon as he walked in and motioned for her secretary to close the door as she left.

"Mrs. Briefs." he said. "Or should I say Ouji?"

"No, I... I never changed it when I got married." she said halfheartedly. That fact had been all over the news. Surely a policeman would know about that? "You said you were a policeman?"

"Not exactly." he said. He reached into his blazer and took out some sort of carnet. "Dylan Williams. Child Services."

Bulma stared at his carnet for a second, taking in the 'Child Services' statement engraved on the plastic.

"Child...? What is going on? Are my children safe?" she asked. "Did something happen?"

"Your children are safe, Mrs. Briefs." he said. "I'm here to talk to you about somebody else. Another child."

"Another child? I don't know any other children." she said. She was panicking. Something wasn't right.

Williams nodded and placed his briefcase on her desk, opening it. He rummaged through a few files before taking out a manila envelope. He carefully closed his briefcase again and took out a stack of papers. Bulma began tapping her foot. She calmed down a little when Vegeta answered that he was fine, but she still had a strange feeling of foreboding. The man finally handed her the stack of papers.

'Case: 001234612. Kuriza Kold.', it read on the first page, which was blank otherwise.

Bulma's blood ran cold at the last name. She passed the page and found a picture of a small boy.

"Who is... uhm..." she cleared her throat. "Who is this?"

"That is Frieza Kold's son."

Bulma took a deep breath through her nose and sat down, staring intently at the picture. He was a spitting image of Frieza, but in a child version and without the evilness in his eyes.

"Frieza had a son?" she whispered.

"He did. As you can see on the file, the boy is eleven years old. He was only a baby when his father passed." the man explained. "Not that it made any difference, because Frieza never met him, or saw him, or even spoke to him. They never had any interaction whatsoever. The boy lived with his mother his entire life, but the woman passed away a few days ago."

"I'm sorry," Bulma said, putting the papers down and looking up at the man, frowning. "but I fail to see how this has anything to do with me or my husband."

The man licked his lips and sighed.

"The child has no family whatsoever, except for - "

"Oh, no." Bulma said, finally seeing where the man was headed. She put the papers back in the manila envelope and shook her head, panicking again. "No, no, no. No. I see where you're going with this and, no. I'm sorry. No."

"Mrs. Brief, I know this is a shock for you - "

"You said you work in Child Services. Then you surely know my husbands situation, right? It was never in the news but you surely have files on that, don't you?" she said, getting angry.

"I am well aware of your husbands difficult relationship with Frieza but - "

"Difficult?" she spat. She took a deep breath and closed her eyes. "I guess an extremely abusive relationship between a sadistic freak and his charge could be categorised as difficult, in the same way that Hitler and the jews had a difficult relationship!" she shouted.

"Ma'am..."

"Look, uhm, Dylan. I don't want to be rude but I'm pretty sure I know what you're about to ask me and - "

"Please, just listen to me." he said. Bulma sighed and leaned back on her chair. "Kuriza is eleven years old. He is alone in the whole world. His only living relative is Vegeta Ouji. It's his only option. I know it's a lot to ask, and I know this is somewhat rushed but we are on borrowed time."

Bulma stared at him for a while before sighing.

"Look, why don't you come over tonight to our house? You can discuss it with Vegeta then. It's not me who needs convincing." she said.

"I was kind of hoping I wouldn't have to run this by him on my own." the man said, his stoic facade cracking to give way to nervousness. Bulma wasn't impressed. Everyone got nervous when they had to talk to Vegeta.

"Well, I'm sorry but it's your only chance." she said. "I'll see you tonight, around 8."

* * *

7:47.

Bulma was extremely nervous.

She wasn't the one who was going to try to convince Vegeta of adopting the son of his nemesis, but she had been the one to invite Williams over so that he could do it.

She stared through the window as Vegeta streched post-workout at the back patio, oblivious to the whole situation. Then, she looked down at Bulla sleeping in her arms.

If it did happen, it would change their lives...

The bell rang.

He was early.

She rushed downstairs, eager to be her who greeted the man. Unfortunately, Trunks beat her to the door.

"Hey, can we help you?" Trunks said, as he stared at the black-suited man.

"Yes, I - "

"He's here for me, sweetie." Bulma said softly, putting an arm on Trunks's shoulder. "Would you put Bulla in her crib, please?"

Trunks rolled his eyes and grabbed the girl before walking away.

"Mrs. Briefs."

"Come on in. I'll go call him." Bulma said, pointing at the huge living room. "Please, sit."

Bulma sighed as she exited through the backdoor and watched Vegeta drying his face with a towel. She tried to crack a small smile, hoping to cheer him up before the bomb was dropped on him. Her husband turned to look at her and quirked an eyebrow as she walked closer to him.

"Is everything alright?" he asked.

"Yeah, why do you ask?"

"You're fidgeting like a nervous child. In fact, you've been acting weird since I picked you up from Capsule Corp." he said.

Bulma swallowed and grabbed his empty hand with both of hers.

"Uhm, there's someone here to see you, and he has... news."

"Bad news?"

"More like... weird news. Come inside, and keep in mind that none of this was my idea or anything."

Vegeta grunted as he prepared himself for the worst.

He immediately recognised the man as he saw him. Mr. Williams had visited him at the hospital right after Frieza had died, asking him a bunch of questions to determine if his siblings would be safe now that their 'caretaker' was gone. Vegeta had hated the man at the moment, and made him hate Child Services even more for ignoring him for years. When his father had passed, nobody had questioned Frieza to make sure _he_ was safe.

"Mr. Ouji. A pleasure."

"Mr. Williams." Vegeta growled. "I remember you."

"Oh." the man said, taken aback. He laughed nervously.

"What are you doing here? Coming to do a lousy job on keeping children safe?"

"Actually, I..."

"My siblings and daughter are perfectly fine. Have been for the past few years since Frieza died. Not like you cared, anyway."

The man was struck silent for a minute. He knew Vegeta hated Child Services, and he had hoped the man wouldn't recognize him, but he had. He took a deep breath.

"I'm not here for your children." he said. "I'm here because I need your help. Well, it's not exactly me... A child needs your help."

Vegeta furrowed his eyebrows and looked at Bulma, who bit her lower lip and shrugged, not knowing what to say.

"I don't know any other child." he said.

Williams sighed and took out the manila envelope from inside his black blazer. It was a bit crumpled, but he didn't care. He handed it to Vegeta, who grabbed it warily and opened it, taking out the papers. His world stopped in its tracks as he read the name.

"Kuriza Kold?" he read aloud, feelig his stomach opening inside of him. He looked up at the man dangerously. "What the hell is this?"

"It's... Frieza's son."

Vegeta closed his eyes, trying his hardest to control his anger. In his younger years, he would've punched the man square in the face. He opened them again and passed the paper, staring at the picture of the boy. He looked exactly like Frieza, but young and innocent. He read the boy's date of birth and the few lines that followed describing his situation. Deceased mother, deceased father. No next of kin except for... Vegeta Ouji. He could tell there was another name next to his but it had been whitened out.

"Why are you giving me Frieza's son's file?" he asked darkly, although he already knew the answer.

"The kid has nowhere to go." the man said. "He has no one."

"Poor thing." Vegeta spat sarcastically, shoving the file back to the man. "No sadistic uncle either? That'd take the problem off your shoulders."

"Vegeta..." Bulma said softly, watching as Vegeta's muscles tensed and rippled in anger.

"Vegeta," the man said, then he cleared his throat. "Mr. Ouji, you are this kid's last hope."

Vegeta glared at the man so hard, he stepped back a little, nervously.

"Funny how things work out." he growled, before turning on his heel and walking towards the door.

"There's-there's something else!" the man said hurriedly. Vegeta stopped, but didn't turn around. "I haven't been completely honest with you."

"Shocker." Vegeta growled.

"What is it?" Bulma asked as the man hesitated.

Williams sighed defeatedly.

"You're not his last next of kin. He does have someone else. Frieza's brother. Cooler Kold."

"Frieza had a brother, too?" Bulma asked, completely astounded.

That peeked Vegeta's interest, and he turned around halfway, staring at the man from the corner of his eye as his fists clenched.

"Cooler is seeking revenge." Williams continued. "He wants revenge on his brother, and he wants to take it out on Kuriza."

Vegeta felt rage. Uncontrollable rage. The kind of rage he hadn't felt since he was sixteen years old. But he didn't know why. He didn't know if he was angry at Cooler, or at Frieza, or at Williams, or at the whole Kold family including Freza's mysterious wretched son and secret brother. Or maybe at the fact that his highly controlling self couldn't have prevented this situation since apparently he didn't know Frieza as well as he thought he did. At the fact that apparently, his uncle had hidden his son and brother for him. Maybe because his uncle knew that nightmares and memories weren't the only thing that could chase and hunt Vegeta down long after the madman had died. Or maybe at the fact that that stupid boy resembled him so much: abandoned by everyone and chased down by a monster who wanted to torment him because of some stupid feud that the boy himself had nothing to do with.

"So there _is_ a sadistic uncle." Vegeta growled.

"Look... after everything that happened with you and Frieza, we vowed that nothing like that would ever happen again to another child. We are trying to avoid another Vegeta-Frieza case. Kuriza still has a chance. You can help him." the man said.

"Can I?" Vegeta laughed. "I can be a sadistic relative, too. I hated Frieza more than anyone in the world. What makes you think _I_ don't want revenge on the stupid brat as well?"

The man was silent again. He swallowed.

Vegeta glared at him for another minute before storming out.

"He's not like Frieza." Williams said. "I know he wouldn't do that."

"Let me talk to him." Bulma said softly.

She exited as well, following Vegeta. He was standing in the middle of the back patio, his shoulders tense, his fists clenched.

"Vegeta..."

"No." he growled. "No. You can't talk me into this."

"Honey..."

He whirled around, his glare intensifying with hatred and rage. Bulma hadn't seen that face in years.

"That's Frieza's son!" he exclaimed, pointing at the house. " _Frieza's_ son! Do they really think they can give us a member of the Kold family and think everything will be okay?!"

"He's not just Frieza's son." she said softly. "He's an eleven year old boy whose only hope is you. You can prevent history from repeating itself. What if some far off family member had adopted you before Frieza got his hands on you? Spared you from all that you went through?"

"I can't." he growled. "I can't do it. He looks just like... him. I can't."

"Don't think of him as Frieza's son. He never met his father. He never even saw Frieza. I doubt Frieza ever spoke to him. You're not doing Frieza any favours, or taking in his heir or whatever. Frieza couldn't have cared less about that boy. If you take him in, it would be to save the boy, to give him a life. Not to do Frieza any favors." she said. "You know more than anyone that the boy doesn't deserve to live with a man who will hate him. He's just a boy, and you also know more than anyone that he's not a reflection of his father. You can't hold him accountable for what his father did. It's not fair. They did it to you and it wasn't fair."

Vegeta closed his eyes.

* * *

Williams sighed as he stared at Kuriza's picture, trying to figure out how to tell the boy that his last living relative, apart from his wretched uncle, didn't want him.

Bulma and Vegeta walk back inside then.

"We will not adopt the boy." Vegeta growled. Williams nodded, defeated. However, before he could turn to leave, Vegeta spoke again. "But he can stay here with us until you find another home from him, far from Cooler."

Williams's heart leapt with hope.

"Thank you so much." he said. Vegeta grunted and turned around again, leaving. Williams turned to Bulma. "I'll bring him tomorrow at 9 a.m. Is that okay for you?"

"Yeah, I'll be here." she said.

* * *

Trunks and Tarble didn't take the news well, and they were as upset as Vegeta.

By the time, 9 a.m. rolled around, Bulma had argued so much with the three of them for stupid stuff she was already drained. It wasn't easy to live with three Ouji men. None of them actually mentioned Kuriza, but they would complain and shout about everything to vent their emotions. It was frustrating.

The bell rang, and fortunately both young boys had already left for school. Vegeta hadn't left for work, though. He was tense and angry, hovering around the living room as Bulma texted everyone at the office to tell them that she wasn't going to be there for the day.

Bulma jumped, Vegeta growled.

She got up and put a hand on his shoulder.

"Remember what we talked about." she said. "He's not Frieza."

Vegeta tried to keep that in his head.

He tried to shove all of his memories away.

But then Bulma opened the door, and there, behind Williams, was the tiny version of Frieza. There was fear in his eyes. Uncertainty. No mockery or rage, or sadistic smiles and pleasure. But he was Frieza's spitting image.

And it set Vegeta's buried emotions on fire.

* * *

 _Alright! I appreciate reviews!_


	2. Chapter 2

Williams left after exchanging a few words with Bulma. Vegeta stayed a few feet behind her, glaring at the man and the small boy.

And then, the small, terrified boy was left alone with two people who he assumed hated him.

"Alright!" Bulma said, clapping her hands together. The boy flinched a little. "So, Kuriza, as I'm sure you know, my name is Bulma, this is Vegeta. So, do you want anything? Something to drink or eat, perhaps?"

"I, uh..." he was hungry, but as he looked shyly up at Vegeta and caught his glare intensifying with rage, he held it back. "No, thank you."

"Okay. Let me know if you do. Follow me so I can show you your - "

"Wait." Vegeta growled, interrupting her. "First of all, some ground rules."

"Vegeta." Bulma sighed.

"First of all, Bulma and I are law in here. Whatever we say, you do. You obey at all costs. No questions asked. Understood?"

"Yes, sir." the boy said softly.

"I will not tolerate any kind of trouble caused by you. First mistake and we kick you out of here. We have not adopted you so if you so happen to find yourself in the street - "

"Vegeta." Bulma said harshly.

"And most importantly." he continued. He walked closer to the boy, who stepped back, looking at the floor. "Look at me boy." he looked up and swallowed. "Do not come near my daughter. If I ever catch you next to her, you're out."

"Vegeta!" Bulma exclaimed. She smacked his shoulder and turned to the boy. His eyes were watering. "Just follow me."

She shot one last glare at her husband before turning on her heel and walking towards the stairs, the boy in tow. They went up the first flight of stairs and gave a few twists and turns before finally getting to a very spacious, beautiful room. There was a wide bed in the middle, a desk and a chair against a wide window on the right wall. The opposite had been replaced by a huge closet. Kuriza gaped at the room. The room was half the size of the apartment he had shared with his mother his entire life.

"So? Do you like it?"

"It's great." he said. "Thank you, mrs. Brief."

"Bulma." she said softly. She put a hand softly on his head before walking inside and opening the closet door. "So, I think it's got everything you need. The bathroom is just down the hall. Do you need help unpacking?

She didn't realise until the words left her mouth that the boy only had a beat up backpack with him.

"No, I... I don't have a lot of stuff anyway."

"Is Williams bringing the rest of your luggage later?" she asked confusedly.

"Uhm... this is all of my luggage." he said.

"How come?" she asked softly.

"My mom and I..." a lump formed in his throat as he mentioned his mother. "We didn't have a lot of stuff."

"Oh." she didn't know what else to say. She could tell the boy got sad when he mentioned his mother and it instantly reminded her of Vegeta when he was young. "Hey, Kuriza... if there's anything you need, you can talk to me."

"Thank you." he said.

Bulma sighed and nodded. She turned to leave, but before she walked out the door she turned to him.

"Hey, everything Vegeta said back there, he didn't really mean it." she said. "He's always mad and cranky at everyone."

Kuriza nodded, although he knew that it wasn't true.

* * *

Things didn't smooth over when Tarble and Trunks got home.

Vegeta had left for work, thankfully, but it didn't make matters better. Bulma told them to be nice, told them for the millionth time that he wasn't Frieza, and then called him downstairs. Both boys tried their hardest, but Vegeta-like glares settled on their faces when he reached the landing.

"Uh... hi." Kuriza said shyly. The two older boys looked at each other before Tarble spoke.

"Kuriza, is it?"

"Yes." he answered. "Tarble and Trunks?"

Trunks growled and Tarble glared at him harder.

"Yes." Trunks said.

Bulma sensed the tension and rolled her eyes, putting her hands on their shoulders.

"The maids made some snacks, they're on the kitchen table. Why don't you go eat?" she said sofly. Kuriza nodded and went on his way. Bulma, however, squeezed the siblings' shoulders harder as she leaned down to glare at them. "Tarble, Trunks, I though I told you to be nice."

"He looks like him." Tarble said.

"What if he is just as evil?"

"Well, then how convenient for you since he is younger than the both of you and looks a bit scrawny and scared." she said sarcastically.

"What if he's planning to take Vegeta's company?" Trunks said, crossing his arms. "I don't trust him."

"Did you want to take Ouji Enterprises when you were eleven years old?" Bulma said, annoyed.

"Bulma, how can you trust him? He's Frieza's son!"

"For the last time, he never met Frieza, so he is _nothing_ like Frieza!" she said intensely. "Now go eat with him and be NICE!"

Both boys rolled their eyes and made their way to the kitchen. Kuriza was there, eating one of the sandwiches from the plate in the middle of the table. Tarble and Trunks sat at each of his sides and silence followed as they ate. Bulma watched them from the kitchen door for a few minutes before deciding everything was safe. She turned on her heel and went to her room to sort some things out on her computer and check on Bulla. As soon as Trunks noticed his mom had left, he turned to Kuriza, a glare on his face.

"So, why here, huh?" he said rudely.

"Excuse me?" Kuriza said, confused.

"Why would you choose Vegeta's house of all places to stay?"

"I-I didn't choose. This is the only place - "

"We didn't choose either, you know?" Tarble said, taking a bite from his sandwich. "To live with your father."

Kuriza swallowed nervously.

"Especially Vegeta." Trunks continued. "You know he would've done anything to live with anyone else, don't you?"

"I... I don't..." Kuriza started, but he didn't know what to say. Of course he knew. Williams and everyone at Childcare Services had made sure he knew just how bad his future guardian had had it with his own father. And everyone he ever met that knew Vegeta and his dad and knew about their situation, made sure to make him know, as if he could do something about it. And even if they didn't know about Vegeta, they would always tell him how evil and mean his father had been, how horrible he had been... His mother always told him to shrug it off and ignore them, but it got harder each time.

"Your father was a very evil man. To all of us." Trunks said nonchalantly. "But especially to Vegeta."

"Funny how things work out. Now Vegeta gets to be your guardian." Tarble continued, a small smile on his face.

"Feeling lucky for being Frieza's son?" Trunks said, smiling as well. "You shouldn't."

"Everyone hated your father... and by extension, well..."

Kuriza closed his eyes for a moment before getting off his chair and rushing towards his room.

As soon as he got there and closed the door, his emotions took a hold of him and he started crying.

Several minutes later, Bulma was walking back to the kitchen when she heard crying inside Kuriza's room. Bulma debated whether to talk to him first or go chop Trunks and Tarbles' heads off. She decided for the latter.

Both boys were still eating as Bulma stormed into the kitchen.

"What the hell is wrong with you two?" she said, glaring at them. They remained quiet. "Kuriza, an eleven year old boy, is sitting in his room, crying, because you were too mean to him!"

"He had it coming." Trunks muttered.

"No! No he didn't! The boy lost his mother a few days ago! He lost his mother! He is alone in the world and the only family he has treats him like crap for something he can't change!" she berated. Both boys remained silent, glaring at the table. "Well? Nothing to say?!"

"You don't understand!" Tarble said. "You weren't there to see it!"

"Yes, I was! I - "

"No, you weren't." Trunks said, supporting his brother. "You weren't there every single morning to watch him wake us up, and give us breakfast and walk us to school when he clearly had to get to a hospital as soon as possible."

"Or pick us up from school when he was limping so badly everyone could tell every step was killing him." Tarble continued.

"Or, you know, waking up in the middle of the night to hear the beatings."

"And the screams."

Bulma was struck silent. She had never imagined that the boys would remember. They had been so young. And even if they did remember, she was almost sure that they didn't really know what had been going on. They had never spoken about it let alone shown any signs that they knew anything. She sat in the empty seat and sighed.

"I didn't know that you were aware."

"We weren't until we began to grow up and everything began to make sense." Tarble said softly. "When we lived with Frieza we knew he was a bad person but we didn't know that he was the one who hurt Vegeta. Then we grew up and everything clicked into place."

"Besides, it's not like everyone who eventually found out tried to keep it a secret." Trunks muttered bitterly.

"Guys..."

"Frieza was a bastard and he made Vegeta's life a living hell. We might not remember everything but I sure remember him being very scared all the time, trying to get out of the house and being hurt every single day! And being food-deprived, trying to make sure _we_ ate!" Tarble complained.

"He was always bruised, and bleeding, and shaking."

"And Frieza was _always_ there."

"I know. I was there, watching him struggle to move at school, and I was there the day he escaped and wound up at our place." she said softly. "I hated Frieza, too. With passion. The man kidnapped me, was planning on torturing me and made me watch while he... well..."

"Tortured Vegeta?" Tarble said with hatred. "Yeah, I can imagine."

"Yes. But... He's gone. And Kuriza is not Frieza. He's not." she said. "I'd understand all of your rage if he had been raised by him, but he wasn't. He never met him. He's nothing like him."

"How can you be so sure?" Trunks said. "Maybe he never met Frieza but if this Cooler guy is after him, too, maybe it's just a family thing. Maybe his mother was just like Frieza and raised him to be like him."

"Well, we can't know that unless we get to know him." she said softly. "I already told Vegeta this... what if some far off relative had come and helped you when your father passed? What if he had spared all of you from Frieza's claws?"

"That's different. Our father never hurt anyone." Trunks said.

"Yeah, he never took in a child to torture him everyday." Tarble continued.

"Look, Vegeta was judged all his life by your father's enemies, just because they hated your father, and it wasn't fair." she said. "Hating him just because he is Frieza's son is exactly the same thing that Frieza did: Hating Vegeta because he was the heir of Ouji."

Both boys looked at each other.

"It's just... he looks so much like him." Tarble said. "And it... brings back memories."

"I know." she said softly. "But you have to give him a chance. We're everything he has."

Trunks and Tarble rolled their eyes before getting up from the table.

"We'll apologize." the older one said reluctantly.

* * *

Kuriza had fallen asleep, but he was awakened by a car pulling into the driveway and the front door slamming shut as someone walked inside the house. He sat up, nervously, and tried to listen. He couldn't make out the words but he knew now that Vegeta was home and he didn't sound happy. He gulped and hugged his knees, dearly missing his mother. She would know how to handle this sort of situation. She always knew how to shield him from people who judged him because of Frieza.

He heard someone coming up the stairs, but it sounded like heels, so he supposed it was Bulma.

She knocked the door.

"Kuriza, honey? Are you awake?"

"Yes." he said softly.

"Dinner's ready." she opened the door and peeked inside. "Come downstairs, sweetie."

The sweet words reminded him of his mother and he smiled slightly.

"Alright."

As he got off his bed and walked to the door, Bulma smiled softly at him.

"Hey, whatever Trunks and Tarble said to you earlier..."

"It's okay." he said, sidestepping her and walking towards the stairs, trying really hard to forget what had been said.

Trunks and Tarble were in the living room, playing video games. Vegeta was still at the door, arguing with someone over the phone. He was very upset, growling and clenching his fists. It unnerved Kuriza very much, but at least the man hadn't seen him yet.

"Hey, Kuriza." Tarble said as he paused their game. "Uh... about earlier..."

"We're sorry." Trunks said in a bored tone, not even looking at the younger boy.

Tarble stared at his brother before sighing and getting up, walking towards Kuriza.

"We don't have the fondest memories with your father and it's just... hard for us."

Kuriza smiled slightly, trying to forget the hidden threat in their words as they spoke earlier.

"That's okay."

"I said no!" Vegeta shouted, making Kuriza flinch. "Because I don't want to, mother! End of discussion!" Kuriza stepped back and looked at the floor as Vegeta walked into the living room, fuming. Bulma walked up to him with Bulla in her arms, though, and his expression did a 180. He smiled slightly and took her from Bulma's arms. Bulla laughed and her tiny hands reached up to his face.

"Stressful day at work, sweetie?" Bulma said before kissing him.

"Hey, underagers here!" Tarble said.

Vegeta ignored him.

"It's my mom. Still trying to get me to throw the stupid reunion. Guess she didn't get the hint."

His eyes raised to the children in the room and his expression changed again as he stared at Kuriza. Bulma watched his expression and the way the small boy cowered and she cleared her throat.

"Alright, everyone! Dinner is at the table and it's getting cold so let's get going." she said. As the three kids made their way to the dinner table, Bulma grabbed Vegeta's arm. "Please, be nice to him. Trunks and Tarble made him cry today and he doesn't deserve this."

"Really?" Vegeta said amusedly.

"Vegeta." Bulma said, glaring at him.

"I'm not going to tell him anything." Vegeta growled as he walked into the dinning room.

The three kids were already eating, and Trunks and Tarble were talking as Kuriza stared, eating in tiny bites. Vegeta sighed, trying to fill himself with tolerance and patience. He sat Bulla in her baby chair and then took his seat. Bulma sat next to him and they began to eat in silence.

* * *

 _Vegeta was walking down one of the long halls of Ouji Enterprises as he read some papers. It was cold and empty, and he began to look around. Why were all of the offices empty? He walked faster, reaching his office at the end of the hall. When he opened the door, the first thing he saw was Kuriza sitting at his desk. The boy was smiling at him and he looked so much like his father. Vegeta's anger flared._

 _"What the hell are you doing here, boy?"_

 _"I own this place." the boy said, but the voice that came out of his mouth wasn't his. It was Frieza's._

 _"No, you don't you little insect. Leave my office now before I tear you apart."_

 _"Will you, really?"_

 _Frieza's voice was coming from behind him now, and he whirled around. The man was standing there, at the doorway of his office, smiling. An old dart of fear spread through Vegeta's stomach. He felt dizzy._

 _"Frieza." he seethed._

 _"Will you really tear him apart? Not very honorable of you." the man continued. "Sounds like something I'd do. Snatch a helpless little boy and torture him because his very presence ticked me."_

 _"I'm not going to torture the boy."_

 _"You're not? Why, thank you. I never thought you'd do me a favor, much less one as big as this one." the man said. "Taking in my child?"_

 _"I am not doing this as a favor to you." Vegeta growled._

 _"Yes, you are. Why, otherwise? It can't be vendetta since you just said you're not planning on torturing him." Frieza taunted. He smiled wider and walked closer to Vegeta. In his dream, Vegeta suddenly got shorter, weaker, thinner. And Frieza was towering over him. Fear assaulted him in a way that he hadn't felt in long years. "You're making sure my lineage lives on, happily. Bringing him close to Ouji. He's my heir, Vegeta. What do you think he wants?"_

 _"A home. A family." Vegeta said. "It's what I wanted when I was eleven before you got your claws on me."_

 _"Oh, how sweet." Frieza said. "You've always been weak, and pathetic. Just like your father."_

 _Suddenly, Vegeta found himself being eleven again, tied to the ceiling, again. Bleeding and in pain... and crying. And Frieza was holding a whip._

 _"Shut up." he said, trying to be brave, but he was terrified._

 _"Or, will you discipline him like I did?"_

 _"Yeah, did that work for you? How's the dead life treating you?" Vegeta growled, breathing through the pain._

 _"You know as well as I do that you resemble me more than you'd like to admit. You're dying to punch that boy's face in. Seeing him cry." Frieza said. "He's got my face. Don't you want to see the mini-me suffer at your hand?"_

 _"I'm not like you." he growled. "I'm not going to hurt him just because he looks like you."_

 _"A little too late for that, I say." Frieza said. "He just lost his mom and you're treating him like dirt."  
_

 _"I'm not." Vegeta growled._

 _"Right." Frieza laughed. "You're still carrying me on your shoulders."_

 _Before Vegeta could answer, the man slammed his weapon against his body._

Vegeta woke up with a gasp, covered in sweat. He swallowed and panted, looking around as his heart beat maddeningly in his chest. Once his brain got out of the stupor of sleep and his recognised his surroundings, he sat up. He rubbed his face and looked beside him, noticing with relief that Bulma was sound asleep. He took a deep breath and considered lying back down, but he was afraid of encountering Frieza in his sleep again. It had been so long since he had dreamed about that damned monster... He finally got up.

He walked downstairs, slowly, to prepare something as a snack.

As he reached, the door, he heard sobbing.

Worried that one of his siblings had had a nightmare, too, he quickly walked inside... only to find Kuriza sitting at the kitchen table, a glass of water next to him and tears coursing down his face. The boy looked up at him and immediately got off the chair, cleaning his tears.

"I-I'm sorry." he sobbed.

"What are you doing, kid?" he growled.

"I-I-I couldn't sleep."

"Nightmare?" Vegeta said disinterestedly, walking over to the refrigerator.

"N-no." he muttered.

Vegeta turned around with a leftover piece of cake.

"Why are you crying?" he asked as if he couldn't care less. He didn't, actually, but he figured it would take his mind off of Frieza.

"N-no reason." the boy answered. "I'm sorry."

"Come on, boy." Vegeta growled. "What's up? Is it because of what Tarble and Trunks said? They were just joking."

"I just..." his lower lip trembled and he lowered his head. "I miss my mom. Sh-she died and I... You all hate me. I have no one."

Vegeta sighed and looked down at the cake. He wasn't really hungry, but he still took a piece and drove it into his mouth.

"I don't hate you." he said after a few minutes. "I hated your father, but I don't hate you."

"There's no difference." the small boy said. "Everyone hates me because of my father. They-they killed my mom because of my father. It's my fault!" the sobbing started again, harder.

"What are you talking about?" Vegeta said.

"M-my mom. She was shot... a-and they said it was a mugger but-but I know!" he sobbed and hugged himself. "They killed her because I'm Frieza's son!"

Vegeta stared at the small boy, crying, hugging himself. He was all alone. And Vegeta had a flashback of himself... being eleven, losing both his parents and not having anyone who cared for him. Having his only living relative hate him. Believing that everything was his fault, even when it wasn't and he couldn't have done anything to stop it. He sighed.

"Kuriza." he said, trying to sound soft. "Your mother dying was not your fault. And being Frieza's son is not your fault either... You're not your father."

"Yeah, well, tell that to everyone who's ever met me." the boy said, anger mixing with his sadness. "My mom always told me that I shouldn't be ashamed of who I am but I... I would do anything not to be his son. I hate him, too."

Vegeta swallowed and pushed the cake away, suddenly feeling nauseous.

"Kuriza, your mother was right. You shouldn't be ashamed of who you are, because you're Kuriza, not Frieza." Vegeta explained. "Your father is dead. And, as much as I had it hard at first at the prospect of having Frieza's son close... I don't hate you. And my siblings don't hate you."

"Yes, you do." Kuriza said. His sobbed had calmed down, but tears were still coursing down his face. "You do and Cooler does, too. That's why he wants to get his hands on me and do what my father did to you. And I know you'd love to see me get mine but I..."

"You're eleven, Kuriza. You've never done anything wrong and it's wrong for Cooler to be chasing you down. You don't deserve this." Vegeta said. "And... If we made you feel hated, I apologise. You were a surprise, that's all."

The small boy stared at him for a long time, small hiccups making his shoulders jump slightly.

"You don't hate me?" he asked softly, in such a low voice that Vegeta almost didn't hear him.

"No."

"What my father did to you..."

"It's in the past. And you have nothing to do with it." Vegeta said, although deep down he hardly believed it himself.

Kuriza uttered one last sob before cleaning his tears and grabbing his glass.

"I'll just go to bed." he said softly, smiling slightly.

"Hey," Vegeta said as the boy walked to the door. "I'm really sorry about your mom... and for what it's worth, we wont't let Cooler get to you."

"Thank you." Kuriza said softly.


	3. Chapter 3

A couple of days went by.

Kuriza mostly kept to himself in his room, only going out to use the bathroom or go down to eat. Vegeta and Bulma were extremely busy all the time, so they hadn't had time to sort things out like school or what they would do about the boy. They had been told that they'd receive a visit from Child Services, to which Vegeta had reacted poorly, as usual. There were few things he hated more than Child Services.

Trunks and Tarble did go to school, and they had homework and their own friends to worry about, so they didn't cross paths with Kuriza very often. When they did, Trunks would glare at him and Tarble would simply ignore him after some small talk, but it never went beyond that.

Kuriza was glad the two boys weren't bothering him anymore, but he felt increasingly lonely. He had nobody to talk to, and he dearly missed his mother each day. He hadn't had much friends before she had passed due to everyone eventually finding out who his dad was, but he always had his mom... Now he had absolutely nobody except for some people who had taken him in out of sheer pity and obligation. It made him extremely sad to think about it, and dread settled in his stomach every time he stopped to ponder whether they'd kick him out or send him somewhere else... Like Cooler's... Or when Vegeta would finally lose his temper. He only saw the man at dinner and he always seemed angry and annoyed at him, and if he had been raised by Frieza himself then Kuriza could only imagine what would happen if he lost his temper.

Saturday finally arrived, and it meant the entire family would be around.

Vegeta and Bulma sat in the living room with Bulla, the TV on showing some baby show while they spoke about him.

"He needs to go to school." Bulma said.

"Giving him life aspects would mean we would have to keep him." Vegeta growled.

"Stop talking about him as if he were a dog." Bulma said, glaring at him. "He's a kid and he needs education. Child Services will tell you the same."

"Oh, because Child Services is so damn right all the time."

Bulma rolled her eyes.

"We can enroll him into Trunks' and Tarble's school. Then he won't be completely alone." she said.

"Trunks and Tarble are not going to befriend him." Vegeta said. "Maybe a public school."

"Vegeta..." They got interrupted as Kuriza shyly walked down the stairs. He was already showered and dressed. "Hey, Kuriza! It's quite early."

"Yes, sorry. I was wondering if... I-I could have b-breakfast?" he said softly.

"Sure, honey. I'll let the maids know. This is kind of new to us, Tarble and Trunks usually get up super late on weekends." she said, laughing as she went into the kitchen, Kuriza following her.

Vegeta sighed as he was stuck with Bulla and the high pitched voices of her favourite characters. His cellphone rang then. He took it out and quirked his eyebrow. It was Kakkarot.

He and Kakkarot still spoke and saw each other regularly, but it was quite unusual for him to call him so early on a Saturday. Just like his siblings, Kakkarot usually woke up closer to midday. He answered, wondering if something was wrong.

"Hello?" he spoke.

 _"Oh, hey, Vegeta! How you doin'?"_

"I'm fine. How come you're up so early on a weekend?" Vegeta asked nonchalantly.

" _Chichi took me on an early shopping spree for Gohan's first birthday."_ Goku answered, and Vegeta could picture the pout on his face. He laughed. _"Hey... uhm... I'm actually calling to see how you're doing."_

"I told you, I'm fine." Vegeta said, furrowing his eyebrows. He had a sudden flashback to high school, when Goku called him very concerned after a particularly hard torture session or beating that led to him missing class or going to school in an extremely poor condition. "Why the sudden interest?"

 _"Well... I just... Chichi just told me about... the boy."_ Goku said, hesitantly, hoping Vegeta wouldn't explode.

"Kuriza?" Vegeta asked, rolling his eyes as he realised that Bulma had told Chichi about it. "Why wouldn't I be fine?"

 _"Well... he's Frieza's son."_ Goku said. _"I thought... well, I thought it would be hard for you. But I'm really glad you accepted. I mean, he's got no one right?"_

"I'm dealing with it." Vegeta said. "I really don't want to talk about it right now. He's in the next room anyway, so..."

 _"Oh, ok. I understand. But, hey, if you wanna talk about it I'm here any day. You know that, right?"_ Goku said.

Vegeta rolled his eyes.

"Yes, Kakkarot. Thanks." he said with a bored tone. "I have to go. I'll see you next week."

 _"Sure thing!"_

He hung up and sighed, resting his head on the back of the couch and staring at the ceiling.

* * *

Every other weekend, they went to Raniya's house to have lunch, so she could see her children. When Vegeta had gotten a home with Bulma, it had been heartbreaking to even think that the three siblings would live apart, even if Trunks and Tarble had grown to love their mother, so Raniya had eventually started to live alone after they moved out.

Kuriza tagged along, reluctantly, after Bulma argued that he needed to get acquainted with the whole family. He suspected Frieza hadn't been to kind to her either.

Raniya had been surprised when she had heard the news, but she was proud of Vegeta for being so forgiving. She didn't intend to hate the boy. She wanted to treat him with care, just like she would've wanted someone to do for her son... But she couldn't help the feeling in her stomach when she saw him.

She tried to hide it, but Kuriza saw it: old nasty feelings coming to life.

She greeted the pair and the siblings before her eyes landed back on the small boy.

"Hello, there." she said softly, surprising him, who fully expected her to treat her like Vegeta had at first. "You must be Kuriza. Welcome."

"Thank you." he said, following the rest of the family into the house.

"Lunch will be ready in a while. Why don't you boys go play X-box while we wait?"

"Yeah!" Trunks said. Him and Tarble rushed upstairs to their old room, where their old console was. Kuriza stayed behind, nervously shifting feet.

"Aren't you gonna go with them, sweetie?" Bulma said.

Kuriza smiled before reluctantly going upstairs, his stomach knotting.

"Alright, now that it's only us grown-ups, let's sit in the living room and talk." Raniya said.

They did just that and Bulma and Raniya began talking as Vegeta watched, bored. Then, his mother brought up a touchy subject.

"So... about the Ouji event." she said, nervously. Vegeta glared at her.

"What about it? We won't do it."

"Oh, but Vegeta! It would be such a great way to honor your father!" she said. "Just imagine it! There hasn't been an event like this since your father passed, and it would be such a great way to honor the company, and the name... all of your father's friends would be there."

"I already told you that you can organise it if you so please, mother. Just leave me out of it." he answered.

"Vegeta, you own the company now..."

"I co-own it. With you."

"Sweetie..." Bulma piped in. "These events are important in the business world. You know that. We do them all the time at CC."

"I won't do it." he growled, losing his temper.

"But..."

"No!"

"Vegeta..."

"I fucking said no! Fucking Christ!" he yelled, getting up.

The two women stared at him, wide-eyed. Vegeta hadn't lost his temper like that in years... They both knew immediately that it had something to do with Frieza. Bulla started crying as her father's booming voice woke her up. Vegeta clenched his teeth and after a moment, stormed out of the room.

Raniya and Bulma stayed in silence for a while, before Bulma turned to her mother-in-law.

"I'll go talk to him." she said, handing Bulla over to Raniya's arms. Raniya cooed as she held the crying baby, before Bulma followed Vegeta into his old room, where she knew he would be. He was sitting on his old bed, staring out the window. He looked like his old self, sixteen years old and horrible memories going through his head. She swallowed. It had been so long since she had had to deal with that... She sighed and slowly walked over, sitting next to him.

"I'm not doing it." he growled.

"I'm not here to convince you. Not anymore. I promise." she said softly. "What's going on?"

"Nothing." he growled.

"It's not nothing. Something is bothering you and I... I know it has to do with Frieza." she said.

"When does it not?" he sighed. He rubbed his forehead.

"Have you been having nightmares recently? Again?"

"No." he said, omitting the one he had had a few nights before.

"Then, what's wrong? Come on, Vegeta. You can tell me. You know that." she said.

He stayed silent for a long time before turning to look at her.

"There would be people there that I don't want to see." he said. "Ever."

"Why?" she asked. "What did they do?"

"If I tell you, you have to promise me that you won't tell my mother." he said.

"I promise." she said softly.

"When I was thriteen, Frieza was in the process of turning all of my father's allies over to his side." he said. "One day, he decided to take it a step too far."

 _Vegeta couldn't even remember what he had done to piss off Frieza this much, but now the monster was making sure he paid dearly for it, in the form of blood, screams and tears._

 _He wasn't sure either how much time had passed, but judging on all the tools Frieza had used and for how long he had used each, he could tell it was more than just a few hours. The man had whipped him, first with a knotted whip, tearing his bare skin open until he started crying. Then with a whip that split into three, skinning him alive until he was in so much pain he passed out. And finally, with a whip covered in shards of glass and nails. Vegeta was too disoriented after that, so he couldn't exactly pinpoint what had come next, but he knew there had been a cane, the thick one that didn't leave cuts but huge gashes and black bruises on his torso. He had been knifed, too, as if he hadn't lost too much blood already. And he knew he had been beaten, savagely, with fists and iron knuckles and... a bat. Oh, god. A bat. That had been so horrible._

 _Why had he used the bat?_

 _It had broken his jaw and forehead. It had dislocated one of his shoulder and one of his knees, and broken his arm, too. And several of his ribs. Not to mention, caused severe internal haemorrhage as it destroyed his organs with every hit. And he was almost sure it had broken his left hip. The pain he was feeling on it was extremely bad, radiating all through his body._

 _There had been more, but he wasn't conscious enough to remember._

 _He did know that he had begged, and cried and screamed so much his throat was raw. He knew Frieza had forced him to say humiliating things, about himself and his father. How he wished he could fight back... but he couldn't. Not like this. Not against Frieza's insane lust for blood. For his blood._

 _He was lying on the floor of the basement, unable to move. Everything hurt._ Everything _. He tried to will his body to shut down, to give him some rest, but he knew Frieza would come back at any moment and it made him so anxious he couldn't calm down. Tears were coursing down his face and he couldn't stop his sobs. He was in too much pain, and too scared. His blood-shot eyes focused on his wrists. They were skinned to blood but a rope was still tightly wound around them, making him hurt with just staring at it. He closed his eyes, wishing that Frieza was done for the day. He needed a break. He needed some time to regroup, to get his mind together and calm down before the monster decided to hurt him again... but it didn't happen._

 _The basement door opened with a heavy groan and Frieza walked inside. He didn't bother to close it._

 _Vegeta stared at him, terrified, half-choked whimpers escaping his throat._

 _The man sneered down at him._

 _"We have company." he growled. He leaned down and pulled Vegeta up._

 _The small boy cried out, his broken arm pulled up into a horrible position and his body overcome with even more intense pain. He swayed on his feet but his knees buckled under him and he lost balance. Since Frieza was still holding his arm, it got wrenched even more, making him scream louder, sobs spurting from his tortured throat._

 _"Cut it out, you filthy animal." Frieza said shaking him and making him cry louder, but he bit his lip through to avoid screaming. He had bitten his lip really hard while Frieza was torturing him, so his teeth went right through it, reopening the wound._

 _Despite the pain, he stood his ground this time, fearing what Frieza would do if he continued "disobeying"._

 _Frieza stared at him for a long while, making him uncomfortable and anxious._

 _"Come on." he said finally, pulling him along. His arm cracked and popped horribly, and he cried and whimpered as Frieza pulled him along. One of his legs still had a shard of glass imbedded into it, and the horrid pain in his hip was killing him. "You'll behave, won't you?"_

 _Vegeta didn't even register the question before he found himself nodding, trying to avoid more hours of torture._

 _His eyes rolled to the stairs once they exited the basement and he worried intensely for his siblings... before he heard voices in the dinning room and a new kind of worry enveloped him._

 _Frieza finally let go of him right at the closed door._

 _"Stay here." he said, and Vegeta leaned on the wall, his whole body shaking, as Frieza walked inside and closed the door behind himself, leaving Vegeta outside._

 _He could hear them talking._

 _"Well, gentlemen. I'm sorry I'm a little late, I was just tending to some business." Frieza said._

 _"Is that... blood?"_

 _"It is. I'm sorry I didn't have time to change." Frieza answered._

 _"Look, Frieza... You will not intimidate us. We already told you we're not signing that contract."_

 _Vegeta furrowed his eyebrows as he vaguely recognised the voices, but his mind was buzzing, fuzzy, swimming in and out of consciousness._

 _"Oh, I'm not trying to intimidate you, gentlemen." Frieza said. "I just hate confrontations. I really despise arguing. That's why, when I can't get to an agreement with a counterpart, I try to make them see things from my point of view. That way things go... smoothly."_

 _"Frieza, we already told you we will not sign that contract. We only came here as courtesy."_

 _"George, John... I trust you remember Vegeta Ouji? Rest in peace." Vegeta could hear the smile in Frieza's voice and he shuddered. "And Vegeta Ouji Jr. ... His son. You know I got custody of him, don't you?"_

 _"What are you on about now?" One of the men growled._

 _"You were fond of the child, weren't you? When he was a small boy." there was a short silence. "You see, Vegeta and I had an argument earlier... and as I said before, I convinced him that I was right and now, he doesn't disagree with me at all. I thought I'd bring him in here, with us, so that he can make you think things over, too."_

 _Vegeta felt his stomach opening up inside of him, a chill running down his spine. He wasn't sure who the men were, but now he knew that they used to be his father's friends, and had met him... and Frieza was going to make them see him in that state. Humiliation invaded his very being and he closed his eyes shut. He wanted nothing more than to run, but he could barely rouse the strength to breathe and stand. His eyes welled with tears of rage and hatred._

 _"This is a business meeting. Why would you bring a child in here?"_

 _"Yeah. Isn't he thirteen? He won't understand anything anyway."_

 _"Oh, I beg to differ." Frieza said, his voice deep with sadistic glee._

 _Vegeta flinched when Frieza opened the door and walked outside. He began shaking his head as the monster walked up to him. He grabbed his arm and smiled sadistically. Vegeta growled, glaring at Frieza through his watering eyes._

 _"No." he said hoarsely._

 _"No what, my sweet nephew?" Frieza growled in his ear._

 _"Don't." he choked out._

 _But Frieza only laughed as he pulled him into the room. Vegeta bit his lip again, more blood running from the wound, to avoid whimpering and crying out as Frieza forced his mangled body to move._

 _The room was silent for a moment as the men registered what was before them. Vegeta lifted his eyes slightly. There were four men around the table. Two of them he didn't recognise, but judging on their spots at either side of Frieza and the sadistic smile on their faces, they were surely Frieza's subordinates. The other two he did recognise. They were his father's friends... Not just any friend or coworker, but really close friends. He hadn't seen them in years, but he did remember that they had been very fond of him and his father when he was younger..._

 _Both men gasped, horrified._

 _Their deceased friend's son was standing there before them, naked, covered head to toe in horrible injuries. Cuts, gashes, gouges and welts were bleeding him dry, his ruptured and ripped skin covered in thick, dark blood. He was also covered in bruises ranging from reds to blacks to greens and yellows. Vegeta was painfully aware of the way they scanned his body: his cracked up forehead and temples, spewing blood down to his chin; his swollen, watering and blood shot eyes, black and red rimmed; his swollen cheeks, nose, jaw and lips; his neck covered in black and blue bruises in the form of fingers, fists and shoe-soles; his torso with his broken ribs outlined against his brutalised skin, which was covered in bruises, burns and open wounds; his dislocated and broken arm, covered in one huge black bruise; his tied up hands, with the fingers pointing in different directions and covered in blood; and the rope that was practically disappearing under his raised flesh. His legs were also blue and black, and covered in black blood, twisted awkwardly... with a shard of glass penetrating his right thigh._

 _"W-what the hell?" one of the men whispered, horrified._

 _"Vegeta, oh my god!" the other one said, getting up._

 _"Ah, ah. Stay where you are, George." Frieza said. "You don't want to see me hurting him even more, do you?"_

 _Vegeta lowered his eyes to the ground, terrified._

 _"What did you do to him?" John asked._

 _"As I said before, I made him see things from my point of view." Frieza said. "You see, we got into an argument about his father. He told me his father was a better man than me, and that I would never be even half the business man he was. I was hurt, so I tried reasoning with Vegeta."_

 _In one swift motion, he grabbed the boy's shoulders and forced him to turn around, his back facing the men. Vegeta cried out this time as he was forced to keep balance on his dislocated knee. He almost fell, but Frieza forced him to keep standing._

 _"Oh, my God." the men said in unison as they stared at Vegeta's brutalised back. It was even worse than his front, the injuries concentrating so badly that he had almost no skin left. Small sparkles were littered around, and it didn't take long for them to realise that they were tiny pieces of glass. The back of his head was bloodied, his hair matted as the injuries on it bled profusely._

 _"He was very keen on keeping his opinion. But I disagreed and let him know it." Frieza said. He smiled as he drove a finger to one of the cuts, and slowly sank it in. Vegeta cried out, his legs giving out under him as he fell to his knees. Frieza grabbed his arm and pulled him up again, making him yelp through clenched teeth._

 _"Don't do this, Frieza. This has nothing to do with him." George said, his voice shaking._

 _"We will call the police."_

 _Frieza laughed, making Vegeta flinch, and his minions laughed along with him._

 _"Do so, please. I'll enjoy watching you realise that I'm above the law." Frieza said._

 _He turned Vegeta around again._

 _"Please, just let us take him to a hospital." John said, his voice whiny and pleading._

 _"Oh, no. He's feeling fine." Frieza said. "Aren't you?"_

 _"Y-yes." Vegeta whispered._

 _"So... what did we say about your father earlier? Huh? Tell the men."_

 _Vegeta looked at them for a moment before looking away, his eyes watering. He remembered now, how Frieza had beaten him because Vegeta had told him that he was pathetic in comparison to his father. And how he had eventually said the words that Frieza had forced him to say... But he couldn't say it in front of these men. He couldn't bear the thought of other people finding out how much of a disappointment he was. How he had betrayed his own father because he was too weak to handle the pain..._

 _"Well?" Frieza growled, grabbing his arm and squeezing the broken bone. Vegeta screamed, but refused to talk._

 _"F-f-fuck you." he said as Frieza let up the pressure on his limb for a moment. The pain was immediate as the monster squeezed again, but this time, he slammed him against the wall, his destroyed back hitting it with a wet thud._

 _Vegeta screamed, tears running down his face._

 _"Say it." Frieza growled._

 _"N-no." he said between clenched teeth._

 _Frieza did it again, harder. His broken arm cracked even further, loudly, his back spewing more blood. His head hit the wall. Vegeta screamed and began crying again, biting his tongue to stifle his sobs, but it was too damn hard. Tears coursed down his face._

 _"Say it, you dirty rat."_

 _"Frieza, please." George said. "Please, you'll kill him. Let him go."_

 _Vegeta panted. He couldn't. He just couldn't._

 _"Vegeta, this show of bravado is getting tiresome." Frieza said, rolling his eyes. "You know better than anyone that you'll end up caving in."_

 _With that, he fisted his hand and punched the boy in the gut, hard. Vegeta couldn't cry out as the wind got knocked out of him instantly. Blood flew from his mouth and he doubled over, coughing even more blood and choking for air. He gasped a few times before his internal injuries rebelled and he threw up dark blood on the floor. It was all too much and he fell on his knees, his broken fingers spread out as he tried to keep balance. He kept his eyes shut, his ears ringing, and he tried his hardest to keep more bile down._

 _"Fine! You win!" George said desperately, his eyes wide as he stared at the puddle of blood on the floor. "W-we'll sign the contract. Just leave him alone."_

 _Vegeta sobbed, looking up at the men with swollen eyes, his whole body shaking. He hoped that would appease Frieza. Oh god, he needed a rest. He was dying._

 _"That's great, but I need a sign of loyalty first." Frieza said, smiling. He grabbed Vegeta's hair and shook him, making him whimper at the pain on his scalp. "From you, first, my little pet. Will you say it or shall I prolong your lesson in obedience?"_

 _Vegeta struggled extremely hard against himself, but he couldn't take it. He couldn't take more pain. He just couldn't. He sobbed and lowered his head, but Frieza pulled it back at a sharp angle, making him cry out and forcing him to look at the men in the room. He closed his eyes then, his jaw shaking._

 _"M-m-my f-father..." he started, sobbing and gasping, hoping that it would mean the end of this punishment, "...w-w-was a bastard. H-h-e was useless a-a-and p-p-pathetic."_

 _"And?"_

 _Vegeta glared up at Frieza, his nostrils flaring in anger. He grunted as the fingers tightened on his hair._

 _"H-h-he deserved t-t-t-to die." he said in a very low whisper. Frieza let go of him then, and he lowered his head, his shoulders shaking as he cried._

 _The two men stared at him with sadness and pity._

 _"Now, I need loyalty from the both of you." Frieza said. "What do you think about what he said?"_

 _"Frieza, what more do you want from him?" George growled. "He already said what you wanted him to, please let him go to the hospital."_

 _"I asked you a question. Do you think he's a traitor, a weakling?"_

 _"What?" John said, shakily. "You forced him to - "_

 _He was interrupted as Frieza grabbed Vegeta from the back of his neck and shoved him into the ground. With his hands tied and destroyed, he couldn't stop his fall, so his swollen cheek and broken jaw received the unforgiving floor. He cried out. Frieza then slammed his foot against his side, making him roll onto his back with a sickening crack and a wail._

 _"Please, tell us. Vegeta won't feel offended." Frieza said mockingly, his minions laughing. When the men hesitated for too long, he placed his foot on Vegeta's sore and bruised throat and pressed down, choking him. Horrible wheezing sounds escaped the boy as he fought for air._

 _"Stop! He can't breathe!" George said, rushing towards them. He was stopped as one of Frieza's men grabbed his arm with impressive strength._

 _"Stay where you are or the boy gets it." Frieza laughed, pressing harder. Vegeta writhed around, tears rolled down the sides of his face as he tried to get Frieza's foot off of him, but it was useless. He couldn't even move. The edges of his vision blurred and dimmed. "Well? Tell us please. Vegeta is waiting with baited breath!"_

 _Just when he thought he was going to lose consciousness, Vegeta heard one of the men talking._

 _"Fine! Yes! He's a traitor! He doesn't deserve his family name." George said._

 _It wasn't enough for Frieza, who relented the pressure a bit to keep Vegeta from passing out, but kept him from taking more than a few gasps._

 _"His father would be ashamed of him."_

 _"He's a disgrace."_

 _The foot finally left his throat and Vegeta gasped and coughed, rolling to the side to ease the process. He was shaking so hard, the rope around his wrists was completely red now. He closed his eyes in humiliation. He knew they had said it to keep Frieza from hurting him. He knew they didn't mean it. He knew it... But a very small voice inside of him kept telling him that despite the fact that they were worried about him, they did believe those words. They thought he was undeserving of his father's pride or name. The horrible thought followed him into unconsciousness ._

They stayed silent for a long while after Vegeta was done talking.

Bulma felt sixteen-years-old again, speechless as Vegeta confided in her. As he retold his worst memories.

"They were forced to say those things." Bulma said finally. "They didn't mean it, and if they did... well, don't you want to show them how wrong they were? No better way to get back at someone you hate."

"It's not about hatred." he said.

"Then, are you... ashamed?" she asked.

"I don't know." he said. "I... I don't know how I feel. I just know that I really don't want to see them."

"What if you don't invite them?"

"Well, that would be worse than not throwing the event at all." he said. "I haven't spoken to them, ever, but they are important associates and not inviting them might lead to business alliances breaking up and..."

"Vegeta, if you really think that avoiding them is the best course of action, I'll support you and help you talk your mom out of this. But I really think you should get it over with. Face them. If this is about them, then show them they were wrong whether they meant it or not; show them how strong you've become, how Frieza would shake in his boots if he ever saw you again. And, if it's about you... show yourself that you don't fear him or any of them anymore. You cut all ties with your past. You're different. You're stronger than ever."

"I just..." he sighed. "I was so angry... I kept hoping that they'd do something about what they had seen. I thought Frieza had made a mistake, and that those men would tell my father's allies what was going on. And maybe they'd... well, they'd do something about it. Take us away from Frieza. But nobody did anything... except for spreading the rumour, according to Frieza. He told me later that most of the business circle that Kold and Ouji moved in already knew what had happened and what was going on."

"Well, maybe they tried to do something but you know how powerful Frieza was. He must've thwarted their efforts."

"Maybe." Vegeta said quietly.

"Whatever you decide to do Vegeta, I'll support you."

Vegeta smiled and kissed her.

Unbeknownst to them, Kuriza had heard everything as he made his way to the guest bathroom in the first floor.

His eyes watered with guilt, even though he knew he had nothing to do with that. Vegeta was being forced to take in a boy that was the spitting image of the man who had donde such awful things to him...

He jumped as Raniya called everyone to eat, scurrying away as Bulma and Vegeta exited the room.

* * *

 _He woke up in the hospital, in a tremendous amount of pain._

 _He cried through clenched teeth and his heart beat maddeningly as he took in his surroundings. Beeping machines, a small room, him enveloped in gauze and plaster and cables. He swallowed as tears ran down his face._

 _His head was wrapped in plaster, but it was pounding horribly. His arm was in a cast, all the way up to his shoulder. So was his leg at the knee. Bandages covered his body, but he was in agony._

 _The hospitals Frieza took him to always kept him alive, but didn't do much else. They didn't worry about keeping him out of pain or comfortable most of the times. Usually because of Frieza's orders._

 _The room was dark, and he allowed himself to cry as memories slowly filled his head: him betraying his father, numerous times, as Frieza ripped him apart. Him betraying him in front of his father's former friends. Frieza's tortures that went beyond what he could've ver imagined. And the fear of knowing that he'd do it again, and he'd do much worse._

 _"Crying again?" Frieza's voice rang in his ears._

 _He flinched and looked over to a dark corner. It was so dark he couldn't see, but as his eyes adjusted, he could make out the monster's outline._

 _"How weak and pathetic." Frieza drawled, getting up and walking closer to Vegeta, the dim light from the small window finally letting him see his worst nightmare standing there. He tried to stop crying and glare at him, but the pain and fear did just the opposite. He couldn't move due to the pain and the plaster around his body, and he felt extremely vulnerable. "Guess your father's friends were right. You're a disgrace."_

 _"No." he said, trying to block out the horrible memory. "You forced them to say that."_

 _"Well, they aren't here, are they?" Frieza said. "They didn't even bother to visit, to check if you're still alive. I just made them say what they already thought. You're a little insect. Disgusting. I disliked your father but I do pity him for having a child like you."_

 _"Shut up." Vegeta said, his voice cracking in emotional and physical pain._

 _Frieza smiled and reached out to put a hand on his hip._

 _"You know, they told me that your hip was dislocated and fissured. It's hard to treat this kind of wound, especially since it can dislocate again with violent movements. They asked if they should put it in a hard cast to avoid that, but I said no. I said you'd be careful, so they only put some bandages while the fissure mends and the bones are able to stay in place on their own again." Frieza said. Vegeta's heart beat harder. "I don't think you were conscious enough to remember but you screamed extremely loud when the bat broke your hip. That's because it's an extremely painful break. Or, you know, just dislocating it is really painful."_

 _Vegeta squirmed, trying to get away from Frieza's hand._

 _"Too bad you weren't careful." Frieza whispered evilly, before he slammed the base of his palm into the bone. A loud crack echoed around the room and Vegeta screamed. The pain was monstrous. His spine contorted and arched as he screamed._

 _After a few seconds, whimpers and sobs were the only thing escaping his throat, but the pain was still there, full-force._

 _"George and Josh told everyone else. They told your father's allies what you said. What I did to you. They all know." Frieza kept talking._

 _Doctors rushed inside the room, a male and a female. They looked at him with pity. It wasn't hard for them to know what was wrong, as the bone jutted out in horrible fashion. Frieza stepped to his other side as they, silently, held his leg and torso down. The woman made a move to take a needle out of her pocket, but Frieza's next words interrupted her._

 _"No anaesthesia." he ordered._

 _The doctors hesitated before nodding reluctantly._

 _"Brace yourself, Vegeta." Frieza said, laughing. "This is going to hurt."_

 _Vegeta began to beg, his mind buzzing with pain and terror and shame. He cried as they held him tighter. Cried was Frieza smiled wider._

 _"Please, please, please no, no, no! Please, no!" he kept telling them, knowing how bad it would hurt. The doctor's eyes were watering with pity, and finally, after some hesitation, the doctor holding his leg lifted it up and pushed it back into place with a crack. Vegeta's scream echoed through the small room. Stars exploded in his vision and he writhed around uncontrollably. The doctor holding his torso tried to keep him still as the other one wrapped more bandages around the hip and leg, more tightly._

 _Then, they left, leaving the small boy alone with his cruel guardian._

 _"They all know how pathetic you are. They were your father's friends." Frieza continued. "They must really hate you for betraying your father like that. But, I mean... they're quite right. You think your father deserved to die, don't you? You think he was pathetic and useless."_

 _Vegeta continued crying as the pain didn't lessen. He tired to block Frieza's presence out of his mind. He tried to fall into unconsciousness. He tried to forget._

 _"Don't you?" the man pressed on, this time placing a hand on his shoulder._

 _Vegeta looked away, terrified, before nodding to keep the man from dislocating his healing shoulder as well._

 _"Say it. Come on."_

 _"M-m-my f-father was pathetic." he whispered as he finally began to feel his consciousness slipping away._

 _"Just imagine what all of the companies' leaders think about you right now. Vegeta Ouji, an absolute disgrace."_

 _Vegeta released one last sob of despair before passing out._

* * *

Vegeta woke up with a gasp, covered in sweat.

He stayed motionless for a while, not knowing what to think. He never had nightmares anymore... Why was he having them again now?

A small noise on the first floor caught his attention and he swallowed hard before getting up. He always worried that Trunks and Tarble would have nightmares as well, so them being up so late concerned him.

He walked down the stairs and was truly shocked to find Kuriza opening the front door, his beat up backpack on one shoulder.

"What are you doing?" he asked.

The boy flinched and turned around, his eyes wide.

"I - I..." he stuttered.

"Where are you going?" he pressed, walking over to the small boy. He stopped when he stepped back, cringing.

"N-nowhere."

"You're not planning on leaving, are you?"

Kuriza's eyes lowered to the ground.

"It will be better if I go."

"Better for whom?" Vegeta asked coldly, thinking the boy was being an ungrateful brat. He was surprised by his answer.

"For you and your family."

"Why would you think that?"

"I-I-I..." he looked at Vegeta and sighed. If the man hit him or something, he wouldn't be surprised or even upset. Vegeta deserved some sort of revenge. "I heard what you told Bulma earlier at Raniya's house."

Vegeta's glare intensified.

"You eavesdropped on our conversation?" he growled dangerously.

"N-no! I didn't... I wasn't listening for it. I was walking to the bathroom when I heard you and I... I'm really sorry." he said. "About what my father did. He was a bastard and... You don't deserve to be forced to take me in after everything he did to you."

"I already told you I don't hold you responsible for what he did. You have nothing to do with it and it's in the past."

"I know. And I've always thought it was unfair how people treated me just because of him... But if anyone deserves to take their anger out on me, it's you." Kuriza explained with a bravery and maturity Vegeta had never seen in an eleven-year-old, except for himself. "It's very unfair. It's not because I don't deserve your hospitality but because you don't... you shouldn't do this. It's not right for me to stay here."

Vegeta sighed.

"You have nowhere to go, kid. Cooler is out to get you. And trust me, you don't want to be left in the care of a vengeful Kold member." he said. "If I let you go, you'd either live on the streets or be captured by him. That'd be on me. And if I did that because I let my memories get to me, then I'd be just as bad as Frieza."

"No. No, because you have a reason to hate me."

"Frieza had a reason to hate me." Vegeta said. "As ridiculous as mine would be if I did hate you. Which I already explained, I don't."

Kuriza hesitated before closing the door.

"I..."

"Save it." Vegeta said as he turned on his heel and began walking back to his room. "You live here now. Now, go to bed. And stop blaming yourself. You have nothing to be sorry or feel guilty about."

Kuriza stayed in front of the door long after Vegeta had gone into his room and fallen asleep again.

Then, he sighed, waking to his room and getting on the bed, wondering if he should feel happy, or guilty, or afraid.

Before he could figure it out, his head hit the pillow and he fell asleep.


	4. Chapter 4

I didn't really want to say how much time has actually passed, but to answer the question I was asked via PM, I'd say it's been about ten years since Frieza died. That would mean Vegeta and Bulma would be around 26.

* * *

Vegeta hadn't felt so nervous since he had lived with Frieza.

He nervously tapped his fingers on his knee as he stared out the window. Rain was pouring down, which was a bit of a relief since the traffic stalled the whole thing. He was dreading it.

"Hey, it'll be alright." Bulma said softly, putting a hand on his. "They admire you. You know that, right? They all see you as a hero."

Vegeta sighed, frowning deeper.

"Not all of them."

"Hey, it's just a few hours. Just... think about when we get back home, I might be a little tipsy from all the champagne and," she leaned over to whisper seductively in his ear, "I'm going commando."

That made Vegeta crack a small smile and he kissed her.

"You shouldn't have worn that red dress you love because I'll rip it to shreds."

Bulma laughed and they kissed passionately.

It didn't last as long as they would've wanted, since they got there sooner than Vegeta expected.

The big event was at his mother's house. He looked at the enormous, beautifully decorated mansion and the people gathered outside and inside. He took a deep breath. So far, he couldn't see anyone he should worry about. Most of them were managers or owners of companies with whom he met on a regular basis. They didn't know any details about his childhood except that Frieza had been abusive... and if they did know the details, they did a good job hiding it, which was a relief.

He got down from the limo and instantly got swamped by people wanting so say hello to him and basically kiss his ass. He was upset to see that there were a few reporters, but he figured it was a big event and he couldn't keep the press away from it.

It was nice at first. He said hello to his mother and spoke to her for a long time. He hung out with Bulma, and some of his co-workers. He hung out with his mom, and didn't see anyone that made him want to leave.

Goku and Chichi had been invited, and they showed up about an hour after them, which made everything better as he spoke with his best friend instead of reporters and people who wanted to get on his good side.

It didn't last, though.

He was talking to them in the living room when his eyes suddenly caught him.

George, one of the men who had witnessed the horrible humiliation in his childhood, walked inside.

He had been preparing psychologically for it. He had tried to tell himself that it wouldn't be a big deal. But it was.

It wasn't only seeing him. In the dark place in his head where nightmares and horrible memories resided, his brain instantly connected the man with Frieza, and humiliation, and pain... and the terrible, terrible memory. The man's words ran though his mind as if he had pronounced them a second back. His stomach twisted. His heart beat really fast. He vaguely remembered his old psychologist telling him that PTSD never really left a person completely, and it was normal to have panic attacks years in the future if he saw something directly related to his trauma. A knot grew in his throat.

"Honey." Bulma said softly. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah." he said in a slightly choked voice. He took a deep breath, trying to calm down. "I think I need to sit down."

"What's wrong?" Goku asked as he watched Vegeta's face pale. He turned around but he couldn't see anyone or anything that would make Vegeta so upset.

Chichi looked at them as Goku and Bulma sat at each side of Vegeta, on the couch, and tried to quietly calm him down before he really had a panic attack. She sighed sadly, knowing she couldn't really get in on their little horrible secret, so she left to the bathroom to give them some space.

Goku didn't know what it was, but he knew he had to get Vegeta's emotions under control. His friend was breathing shakily, his eyes closed tightly shut and his teeth clenched. He hadn't seen Vegeta lose control in at least two years, but he knew it was bound to happen again. He knew the terror would always be there with his friend.

"Hey, it's alright, sweetie." Bulma said. "It's fine."

Vegeta finally opened his eyes and took a deep breath, calming down. _'Frieza's dead. He's dead. He isn't here.'_ he told himself. He said it over and over in his head. He kept saying it as he recovered his external composure. He kept saying it as he reassured his wife and friend that he was fine. He said it, screamed it in his head as George spotted him, looking him in the eyes. And when he walked over to him.

"Vegeta." George said, in a voice that spoke regret, pain, pity... guilt.

"George." Vegeta answered. He shook his hand, strongly. He tried to act professional. He tried to shove the memory away, and pretend it didn't happen, and he hoped George was doing the same thing. He could tolerate everything if the man pretended nothing happened. "This is my wife, Bulma. And my friend, Kakkarot."

"Nice to meet you." he said, nervously. "Uh, Vegeta... I was hoping we could talk."

Vegeta stiffened and glared at the man, making him even more nervous.

"I'm quite busy." he growled, walking away.

Bulma stared at his back and sighed. She turned to smile at George, trying to act as if she didn't know anything.

"He promised some reporters he'd talk to them. I'm sorry." she said.

* * *

Vegeta was sitting alone on the back patio after blowing off every single person that had wanted to talk to him.

Bulma found him there, following the swarm of people that were talking about him acting weird. Goku followed her, knowing his friend needed support. Luckily Chichi had befriended another woman and they were happily chit chatting in the kitchen.

The both approached him and sat on the empty seats at each of his sides. He didn't look up at them, he simply stared down at the drink he was holding.

"That wasn't so bad, was it?" Bulma said. Vegeta took a big gulp of his drink.

"Worse than I thought it would be."

"Who was that?" Goku asked.

Vegeta sighed. "Just... he's one of my father's old friends and Frieza once tortured me in front of him."

Goku and Bulma shared a look, before she put a hand on his shoulder.

"Sweetie, if you want to leave, we can. Your mother would probably burn our house down with us inside but..." she joked. She stopped when Vegeta's face didn't lighten up. "Do you want to leave?"

"No." he said. "Yes... I... I don't know. I don't want to have to leave because I can't handle stupid memories."

"Those are not stupid memories." Goku said.

Vegeta leaned back on his chair, sighing.

"I think I'll be fine as long as I don't run into him for the rest of the night." Vegeta said.

He spoke too soon, though, as he once again spotted someone he really, really didn't want to see. His heart thumped in his chest. For the second time in under an hour, he felt his stomach opening up, his heart accelerating. Bulma and Goku shared a look of concern as Vegeta's face grew pale again, even more than before. Both looked up, but it wasn't George or anyone they recognised.

"What's wrong?" Bulma asked, still trying to figure it out.

Vegeta didn't answer. He gulped.

A woman made their way to them and Vegeta got up, nervously. Neither Bulma nor Goku recognised her.

"Oh, Vegeta." she said, her voice full of love and gratitude. It was normal, people often held great amounts of gratitude towards Vegeta... but she seemed more emotional than normal. Her eyes watered and she hugged him.

Vegeta nervously hugged her back.

"Mrs. Paltrow." he said, his voice shaking a little. It really confused Bulma. She got up and smiled at her. "Uh, this is my wife, Bulma Briefs."

"Nice to meet you." Bulma said.

"Oh, you too, dear." she said. "I hope you don't mind me showing up. Your mother invited me."

"Oh, it's alright." Vegeta said. "Uhm, excuse me. I... have to..." he didn't finish his phrase before he walked away, ignoring everyone as he made his way through the crowd and went upstairs.

Bulma looked down at Goku, before they both got up and followed him, knowing where he'd be.

Just as they had predicted, Vegeta was in his old room, sitting on the bed as he struggled extremely hard against the upcoming panic attack. He hadn't had had to deal with panic attacks for such a long time, he had almost forgotten what to do. He was an adult now! Not a teenager! It was ridiculous. He growled as he heard the door opening, his anger increasing as Bulma and Goku once again flanked him.

"I want to be alone." he growled, breathily as he still tried to keep his trauma under control.

"Who is she?" Bulma asked. She knew Vegeta needed to let it out. Various meetings with psychologists and long nights trying to calm him down when he was younger and his mind was even more wrecked had taught her that. It only got worse when he bottled it up.

Vegeta knew it, too. He knew talking about things was better, but he didn't want to. He didn't want to break there, at that party, with people and the press downstairs. But it was too damn hard to bottle it down. He swallowed hard.

"Sh-she's Mary Paltrow." he said. "Or... was. She's a widow now. She was married to the owner of Paltrow Inc."

"Didn't Paltrow Inc go bankrupt years ago?"

"Frieza killed the owner and made sure the whole company crumbled down because Mr. Paltrow didn't want to sell his company to that monster." Vegeta growled. "A-at least that's what she thinks."

"What do you mean?" Goku asked.

Vegeta closed his eyes and raked a hand through his hair.

"This is ridiculous." he said. "I'm not sixteen anymore, this stuff shouldn't bother me."

"It's normal. You know that. It's a syndrome of PTSD, and you still have it and anything can trigger it. It's not childish or ridiculous." Bulma said. "And you also know that talking about it always helps. We're here for you."

Vegeta closed his eyes and nodded. He was with the people he trusted the most in the world... and as he did when he was younger, he confided his terrible secret with them.

 _The pain was the first thing he registered as he woke up. He hurt everywhere. A reminder of a brutal beating. He groaned and tried to stop his head from pounding so hard... he needed to focus and remember what had happened. Why was Frieza upset? What had he done? Where was he? What had Frieza done to him? He finally opened his eyes, moaning slightly as he realised that his left eye was swollen shut. He tried to lift his hand to his head, but a lance of pain made him realise he was tied down to a chair. He groaned and writhed, partly in pain and partly in a futile attempt to free himself. Memories slowly crawled back to his head as his good eye tried to take in his surroundings. He had escaped, again... And once again, Frieza had caught him._

 _He winced as he remembered the terrible beating. Frieza had been extremely angry. And apparently, his punishment wasn't over. He knew he'd be begging for death before Frieza was through._

 _He didn't have to wait long. The basement door opened. Frieza turned on the dim lights. Vegeta swallowed nervously, cold sweat breaking out through his entire body. His head was hanging down, his chin resting on his chest as he tried to grab a hold of his fear, but his body was shaking with terror. He heard Frieza's footsteps getting closer. He jumped and gasped as a hand clasped down on his shoulder, a wave of pain freezing him as he remembered his shoulder was dislocated, but he didn't make a sound. As he lifted his head, he could see a TV in front of him, against the wall. He furrowed his eyebrows. That was new... and terrifying. He didn't know why but seeing the TV, static on it, filled him with dread._

 _"I'm glad you woke up. I thought we could watch a movie together." Frieza said sadistically._ _Vegeta swallowed and looked down again, shuddering._

 _Frieza stood behind Vegeta as he turned the T.V. on. It took a moment for the boy to make out the scene on the screen, but his stomach flopped when he recognised it. There were two men, strapped down to chairs just like he was, except they had duct tape on their mouths and were blindfolded. One was older, an adult, around 40 or 50 years old. The other one was young. Older than Vegeta, though. He looked around 20._

 _"Wh-what's going on?" Vegeta asked._

 _"You see, my young pet, I think you haven't completely grasped the idea of what your place is, and who you are." Frieza said. "I own you, Vegeta. You're just a pathetic, little weakling, and I think it's high time you realise that. I've tried to beat it into you but you're just so stubborn... I think I now realise that physical pain just isn't enough. It's good, but it's not enough. You have to see it with your own eyes."_

 _Vegeta furrowed his eyebrows. He was so confused and the intense pain his body was in wasn't helping. He didn't have time to ask for clarification, though, as Frieza suddenly stabbed a small knife into his shoulder. Vegeta screamed and writhed, his body screaming as his cracked ribs and bruises arched painfully._

 _"I want you to say that I own you, and you're just useless and disgusting." Frieza said behind his ear._

 _"You can go fuck yourself, Frieza." Vegeta growled. He found himself screaming again as another knife was driven into his forearm, going through his bone with the sheer strength Frieza put into it. Vegeta shrieked and then bit his lips. He took several ragged breaths and tried to muster strength. "Stab me all you want you damn sick bastard. I won't say it."_

 _"We'll see." Frieza laughed. A knife stabbed into his lower back. Stars popped in his vision. He tried to keep his screams in, but when Frieza began to twist it, he couldn't help it. He screamed as tears rolled down his face. "Those people you see on the screen, my dear boy, are Mr. Paltrow and his son. They own Paltrow Inc."_

 _Vegeta opened his eyes to stare at them. He swallowed, trying to ignore the horrible pain on his back. What was Frieza planning?_

 _Another knife went into his side, and he screamed as Frieza dragged it down. Vegeta could feel blood pouring from the wound and he hoped to bleed dry. He really wanted to die._

 _"They defied me, much like you." Frieza continued. A knife went into his thigh. Screams, sobs, tears, blood. A lot of blood. "But they don't have the privilege of a second chance. They need to be exterminated, like insects." Another one on his stomach. He couldn't help it. He started crying as he shrieked, twisting around so hard his wrists got chaffed with the rope that was holding him down._

 _Frieza straightened up and grabbed something from atop the T.V. It looked like a remote control. Vegeta swallowed._

 _"I got this this morning. This is the second time you escape. I thought I had made myself clear last time but you obviously need a harsher lesson. You need more scars on your body and your mind. Something you'll remember next time this stupid idea crosses your mind." Frieza said. He smiled as he saw Vegeta's terror growing in his face, and then he pressed a button on the controller._

 _Vegeta's whole body was doused in fear as static ran through his body for a split second. The knifes vibrated for a moment, and then the pain hit. The knifes lit up with electricity, filling him with unbearable pain as it wrapped Vegeta's body in monstrous agony. Electricity burned him inside and out, his flesh, his skin, his bones. He screamed to the top of his lungs, his mind completely wrapped in in the worst pain imaginable. No coherent thought could form in his head. His skin split open. He was getting literally ripped to shreds from horrible volts coursing through him. Tears poured down his face and blood spurted from his nose and eventually his ears. Then, Frieza stopped it._

 _Vegeta gasped, his good eye wide, his body trembling with shock and pain and fear._

 _"Will you say it now?" Frieza asked, sadistically._

 _Vegeta swallowed, closing his eyes. The smell of burnt flesh singed his nose and he scrunched up his face._

 _"F-f-f..." he couldn't talk. "F-ah... F-uck... y-you."_

 _Frieza laughed._

 _"Alright, I'll give you some time to clear your head. As I was saying, these are Jeremy Paltrow Sr., and Jr. Just like your father and you. Sweet, isn't it?" the monster spoke as he walked around Vegeta. He clicked the button again, and Vegeta's screams filled the room. He thought he would die. The pain was truly horrible, beyond anything he had ever felt._

 _It stopped again, and Vegeta was left sobbing as his body shook horribly. Blood dripped from his nose and he looked down. The stab wounds were terribly inflamed, bleeding extremely heavily, and black and blue around the edges. He was terrified. Sores, blisters and split skin were close to them too, from the electricity that had invaded his body. He looked up at Frieza as the monster laughed, looking terrified and miserable as tears and blood ran down his pale face. He panted, his body completely exhausted and weak._

 _"If you think you're afraid right now, just imagine that boy's mother." Frieza said, turning again to the screen. "The man's wife, obviously. She's not like your mother. She actually loves her son. She'd die if anything happened to him. It would be terrible. Imagine the pain of losing her husband and child all at once. Sounds awful, doesn't it?"_

 _Vegeta swallowed, furrowing his eyebrows as he tried to follow Frieza's words. What did the man and the boy have to do with him?_

 _"If you don't obey, Vegeta, I'll kill them." the man said, evilly._

 _Vegeta was about to answer, saying he didn't care at all, when the pain hit him again. This time, Frieza leaned down and covered his mouth with his palm, muffling his screams. Vegeta looked at him pleadingly, terrified, and Frieza watched with sadistic satisfaction as the boy's eyes rolled to the back of his head and blood cascaded down his nose, over the man's hand. He couldn't breathe properly as his nose was clogged with blood and his mouth was blocked by the man's hand._

 _"Listen to me. It will be all your doing. You wouldn't only be a useless animal, you'd also be responsible for destroying a family. Do you really want these people to die because you're too damn proud and stubborn?" he removed his hand and straightened up._

 _The pain stopped and Vegeta panted, crying. He couldn't think straight. He was about to pass out and Frieza's words seemed to make sense. He didn't want to be responsible for that monster leaving a woman without her family. He didn't want anyone else to go through what he had. He couldn't handle that. He cried harder and closed his eyes shut, wracked in so much pain he wondered why he hadn't fainted yet._

 _"Say it. Say I own you. Say you're pathetic and disgusting."_

 _Vegeta was about to give in... But he couldn't. He just couldn't._

 _It went on for a while. Frieza telling him to say it and him refusing, thus being tortured horribly by electricity that destroyed his body. Him screaming and squealing, writhing and crying and shaking. Him passing out a few times and being woken up by the horrible waves of pain. And the worst of all was Frieza saying how he was destroying a family. How he was responsible if they died. And it hurt more than anything. He didn't want them to die because of him. He didn't._

 _He finally broke when he heard a gun being cocked on the T.V. and the man and boy pleading behind the duct tape._

 _"W-w-wait." he said, crying. He took a few deep breaths, trying to convince himself that it was the best course of action. "Y-y-y-you o-own-n... m-m-e."_

 _"And?" Frieza urged cruelly._

 _"I am u-usel-l-less. A-and d-d-disgusting."_

 _Frieza laughed, making Vegeta cry harder in terrible humiliation. Then, the demon took out a phone from his pocket and made a call._

 _"Go ahead." he said cruelly. Vegeta's head snapped up, his swollen and soaked eyes widening. It happened really fast. Two gunshots, directly on their heads, and they were dead._

 _"No!" Vegeta wailed. "I-I said what you wanted!"_

 _"It took you too long. If you had said it when I told you to, they'd still be alive now." Frieza laughed._

 _Vegeta didn't know why it hit him so hard. Maybe it was because they reminded him of him and his father, or the woman reminded him of his mother, or he simply didn't want to feel guilty for their deaths..._

 _Frieza pressed the button again, and then Vegeta was screaming, the image of the dead father and son burned into his head._

The trio stayed silent. Vegeta was completely lost in his memories, his hands shaking subtly. Bulma and Goku looked at each other, speechless.

"It wasn't -" Bulma started, but Vegeta interrupted her.

"My fault. I know." he growled.

"You didn't kill them." Goku said.

"I know." he repeated.

"I'm sure she doesn't think so, either. She seems extremely grateful to you." Bulma said.

"She doesn't know." Vegeta whispered, looking down at his hands. "Frieza recorded my screams and sent them to her telling her that it was her son screaming and he had tortured him before killing them. Or at least that's what he told me. But he never told her... about what he did to me, or made me do."

Bulma rubbed his back.

"You should talk to her." she said softly.

"What?" Vegeta growled. "I can't even look at her without getting a damn panic attack."

"I know. But... she deserves to know that her son and husband didn't suffer before dying, and you deserve to hear from her that she doesn't blame you. I know she won't. You didn't do anything."

"You know that talking about it always helps." Goku added.

"Yeah, talking about it with you helps. Not with her... them." he said, remembering George as well. "I don't want to pull it back out. I made my peace with my past and..." he sighed. "I don't know why it keeps coming back."

Bulma knew then that he was also thinking about Kuriza.

"Making peace with your past means not having to hide it anymore. You know it was all Frieza's fault. And she knows that, too. Everyone does." she said.

"I didn't know she'd be here." he said miserably.

Goku and Bulma stayed quiet then, as they rubbed his back and waited for him to come back from that horrid place in his mind.

* * *

About an hour later, he stood nervously a few meters from Mary Paltrow. She was talking to another woman. She looked tired, old, broken... An effect of having Frieza disrupting her life and ripping it apart. He swallowed. God, he didn't want to talk to her. He really didn't.

But he knew Bulma was right. She deserved to know the truth.

"Mrs. Platrow." he said, trying to sound confident. She turned to him and smiled widely. "May I talk to you for a moment?"

She nodded and Vegeta led her into a guest room, which was empty and closed to the public eye. There was a table with two chairs next to the bed and each of them took one.

"Is everything alright, Vegeta?" she asked. The young man was pale and nervous, rubbing his wedding ring and looking at anywhere but at her.

"There's... there's something you should know... about your son and husband. About their deaths." he said. She took a sharp breath. "I'm sure you have heard... that Frieza was an abusive bastard."

"Yes." she said sympathetically.

"When I was... twelve, I think... I-I..." he looked at her, his eyebrows furrowing and his throat hurting from the huge lump in it. "I watched them die. He made me watch."

"Oh my God..." she said softly, covering her mouth with her hand.

"A-and... I'm partly at fault... for their deaths." he said. His voice choked a bit and he closed his eyes tightly as she gasped. Slowly, taking deep breaths to keep at least a bit of composure, he told her the horrible story. He spoke with a hoarse voice as he retold the torture, as he told her how he could've stopped it but his pride had gotten in the way. She didn't say a word, tears rolling down her pale face. As he finally finished, he looked up at her. "I-I'm so sorry..." he whispered. "But... I just thought you should know that they didn't suffer. Those were my screams, not your son's." he said. "They went peacefully and I'm really, really sorry."

She stayed frozen on her seat, speechless.

And then, after a few seconds, she got up and left, leaving Vegeta devastated inside the guest room.

* * *

Bulma was talking to Raniya when Vegeta walked up to them. He was pale, his scowl in place in his eyes cold and emotionless. Both women knew that he was trying to bury deep, painful emotions.

"Honey?" they said in unison.

"I want to leave." he said hoarsely, glaring at Bulma. "Thank you, mom. Great event. Can't wait for the next one." he barked between clenched teeth.

"Vegeta, what happened?" Bulma asked, putting a hand on his shoulder.

"Your stupid advice happened." he growled.

"What's going on?" his mother asked, confusedly.

Vegeta swallowed, trying to control himself. "I just... I'm not feeling too good. I'm sorry." he said.

Bulma sighed, before Mrs. Paltrow approached them. Vegeta grew incredibly tense. His face hardened and he prepared to be shouted at in front of everyone. The woman's eyes were swollen and red, and her face was blotchy. She had obviously been crying.

"Oh, Mary. What's wrong? Is everything alright?" Raniya asked, grabbing her hands. Mrs. Paltrow pulled back softly and forced a smile.

"Yes, Raniya. Thank you. I would like to speak to Vegeta." she said softly, her voice hoarse and shaky.

Vegeta nodded, grateful that at least she wouldn't do it in front of everyone.

He followed her to the guest room and Bulma and Raniya shared looks of worry and confusion.

Vegeta remained standing as Paltrow sat down in front of the table. Her eyes watered again and her lip trembled as she got her thoughts in order.

"I'm sorry." she blurted out. "I'm sorry I walked away like that. I just... it's so painful to me. It's been years and still..."

"I understand." he said softly, surprised at her tone and words.

"Vegeta," she sobbed, "you need to know that I do not blame you for what happened. What Frieza did to you was awful. And making you think that any of that was your fault is... it's extremely wrong. It wasn't your fault, Vegeta. You didn't pull the trigger or give the order."

"But I..." he sighed. "If I had obeyed him..."

"Frieza would've killed them anyway." she said, her voice hardening with anger and hatred. "He had been planning it for months. And he only used them in his sadistic, horrible game of making you suffer. And you know what, Vegeta? I'm extremely glad that you didn't cave in at first. I'm proud of you, for not breaking in front of Frieza. And I'm thankful that you caved in, too, because I know you did it to keep my family safe, even if it was futile. I know it wrecked you emotionally and I..." she sighed and smiled. "Thank you, Vegeta. For everything. Every single thing."

Vegeta was speechless. He swallowed hard.

"Y-you... you don't think it's my fault?" he asked.

Mrs. Paltrow smiled and got up. Vegeta always had a hard, intimidating, impenetrable face. His deep, black depths never betrayed any emotion. He was always confident, professional, detached... But right now, she saw him as the young man he really was. Gosh, he was so young. It was easy to forget, since he was owner of one of the biggest companies in the world, only rivalled by his own wife, and he had children and money... But he was still so, so young. And he was so traumatised. Frieza had wrecked him really badly.

She hugged him, and Vegeta hesitantly hugged her back.

He reminded her so much of her own son.

"It's not your fault." she said. "And you can't let Frieza get in your mind. You killed him. Take control again."

Vegeta nodded and she patted his shoulder before leaving.

Bulma walked in then, looking at him.

"What happened?" she asked softly. "Are you okay?"

Vegeta nodded and smiled slightly. "Everything is okay."

Bulma smiled and hugged him. He hugged her back and kissed the top of her head.

* * *

They got into their car after Vegeta and Bulma gave a few more interviews. It was close to midnight and they had to pick the kids up from Bulma's parents' house.

However, before their driver could close their door, Vegeta heard his name being called. He growled as he watched George approach their car.

"Vegeta..." the man said, leaning down to talk to him.

"I'm leaving." Vegeta growled. "We're not giving any more interviews."

"I just want to give you something." the man said, pulling something out of his jacket inner pocket. "I know you don't want to talk to me but please, please read this."

It was an envelope. Vegeta grabbed it and looked at him confusedly.

"Alright..." he said, trying to sound nonchalant.

"Have a great life, boy. God knows you deserve it." George said, before straightening up and walking away.

Vegeta swallowed and nodded at his chauffeur to close the door.

"What's that?" Bulma asked.

"A letter." Vegeta said, pulling out the paper inside the envelope. He swallowed and began reading it.

 _Vegeta,_

 _If you received this letter, it means that either I didn't have the courage to talk to you, or you didn't want to talk to me, which I understand completely._

 _I know it has been years, and I have no right to say anything. I have no right to even show up at your event. I am fully aware that you invited me out of pure obligation. I wasn't going to show up, because I know you didn't want to see me. Josh knew it, too, and he didn't do it. I guess, if you're reading this letter, I should've done the same thing._

 _However, I need you to know this._

 _That night, all those years ago... Not a word we said was even remotely true. Frieza told us countless times how you thought we had meant it. We didn't. We never thought that. And I'm not saying this to make you feel better. I'm saying it because this eats me out on the inside, to think that I pronounced those words and that there's even a slim chance that you believed them. You are not a disgrace. You are worthy of your name. If your father could see you, he'd be immensely proud of you, not just right now but when you lived with Frieza, too. The only reason we said that was because we genuinely thought he was going to kill you._

 _I don't want to make any excuses or make myself feel better, but we tried everything after that day. We contacted the police several times, we sued Frieza, we tried contacting you... but all of our efforts got thwarted by him. We tried visiting you at the hospital but were denied entrance even after we fought with teeth and nail. I don't suppose Frieza told you any of this._

 _We stopped trying after he threatened our lives, families and companies. I'm awfully sorry, but there was nothing else we could do._

 _When he died, I thought about visiting you... but I didn't want to remind you of that terrible, horrible day. It wasn't until I received your invitation that I finally got the guts. This is killing me inside._

 _I will quit my job at my enterprise and my nephew will inherit it._

 _You have managed to create a fair, just, and trustworthy environment for business. We are all eternally grateful, since you have singlehandedly managed to vanquish every trace of Frieza Kold. And that makes you a hero._

 _With that said, you can find my business card inside the envelope, if you ever want to talk._

 _Take care and have the best life,_

 _George Fallows._


	5. Chapter 5

A few days passed before Vegeta got over everything that had transpired at the party.

He had ripped the letter to pieces soon after reading it, and he had closed up afterwards. For days, he wouldn't talk and instead would lock himself up in the private gym they had, working out for entire days. He would only come out to make a few phone calls in lieu of his presence at the office, and answer some e-mails. He wouldn't even sit with them to eat. Late at night, or early in the morning, he would walk into the kitchen when he knew no one was there, and he would eat until he felt full.

It was like this that Bulma ran into him. Purposefully.

He jumped when he walked into the kitchen and saw her there, glaring at him.

"God, woman!" he berated.

"We need to talk." she said. He didn't answer, instead walking over to the fridge. "You didn't think you could just ignore all of us for days and get away with it, did you?"

Vegeta turned around with a piece of leftover pizza and sat down across from her at the table.

"I wasn't ignoring you." he said.

"You haven't been going to your work. You haven't spoken to us. You haven't even come to bed with me." she said, her voice softer.

"I need some time alone." he answered.

"Vegeta... what is going on?" she asked softly. "I thought things were okay."

Vegeta glared at her for a long moment before crossing his arms and leaning on the back of his chair, leaving the pizza on the table as he lost his appetite.

"Things are far from okay, Bulma. We went to a meeting where I had to face my past, and had two panic attacks that you and Kakkarot witnessed first hand. I had to confess to an old lady that I had witnessed her family's death while Frieza tortured me. And I faced a guy who watched me getting beaten down and did nothing." he said. "I thought it was fine, until we picked up the kids from your parents' house and saw Kuriza, which turns out, looks exactly like Frieza."

"Vegeta..." she said softly.

"If you want me to be honest with you, every time I look at him, I want to punch him in the face. I see nothing but Frieza." he said. "I want to take revenge on him."

Bulma swallowed uneasily and sighed.

"Maybe we can send him to live with my parents for a few days." she said.

Vegeta took a deep breath.

"I've been having nightmares again." he confessed after a long time. "That's why I'm not going to bed with you."

Bulma reached over the table and extended her hand, inviting him to take it. He did, sighing.

"Why didn't you tell me?"

"I don't want you to worry." he said. "And I know it's because I'm seeing him again... I mean, his face. On Kuriza. But it's not the boy's fault. And sending him away to you parents would... It would make him feel like trash. Like... a burden to us."

"But my mom would take so much care of him. She would love him and pamper him..."

"But so would you." Vegeta said. "And he's safer here."

"What do you want to do, then?" she asked, softly.

He shrugged and got up from the table before exiting the kitchen. Bulma didn't follow him.

 _Vegeta sat in the rocking chair inside his siblings' bedroom. Both of them were cuddled up on his lap, soundly asleep, and he was caressing their faces and running his hands through their hair as he stared out the window. Frieza was travelling, which meant he wasn't terribly hurt. He still had a few bruises on his body from the beating the man had unleashed on him before leaving, and he was walking with a limp, but he could manage._

 _He was, though, incredibly depressed. He had visited his mother in the morning, taking advantage of his abuser's absence, to try to convince her, again, to take them in. It had been a lot less emotional than previous times, because Vegeta looked healthy, which had given his mother a lot more strength than other times; and she had been more adamant about her refusal._

 _He was devastated, though. Tears were coursing down his face and he felt emotionally crushed. He really wanted his father... But at the same time, the thought of his father seeing him crying made him cringe. He would be so disappointed..._

 _"V'geta." Tarble said as he awoke. He looked down at the four-year-old. "Why you crying?"_

 _Vegeta smiled and reached up to clean his tears._

 _"No reason." he said softly. "Go back to sleep."_

 _"I can't." he said, crossing his little arms._

 _"What if I sing a small song for you?" Vegeta said, hoping to get him asleep again. He wasn't in the mood to play with him._

 _Tarble nodded and leaned against him again._

 _There was a lullaby that his mother used to sing to him when he was upset, or sad... It always cheered him up or made him fall into the deepest of sleeps. The last time she had sang it to him had been the night his father had died... He took a deep breath, and sang it for his brothers. And it made him cry harder. His voice cracked and sobs interrupted the strophes, his tears falling rapidly and landing on his siblings, but they were fast asleep by then. It didn't take them too long to do so. But he didn't stop. He kept singing, his throat aching from the lump in it, his whole frame shaking as he sobbed, holding his siblings close. They were everything he had left. Everything._

 _He felt so utterly crushed. And terrified._

 _He jumped when he heard a sob behind him. He craned his neck around, immediately looking at the person standing at the door. It was a maid, and she was crying as she stared at him. However, as she saw him looking at her, she left hurriedly._

 _Vegeta recognised her. She was nice; she always cried and looked concerned when he walked around the house sporting horrid injuries and in obvious pain. She smiled at him sometimes and he knew she was the one who sometimes left a bit more food for him and his siblings... but he had never spoken to her. He didn't even know her name._

 _Two days later, Frieza was back. He was back and as soon as he got home, he grabbed Vegeta by his hair, pulled him bodily out of his bed and dragged him down to the basement. He slammed his face against the wall as the boy struggled, and in his dizziness, he could do nothing as Frieza tied his hands above his head and began beating him. The beating was brutal, painful, unbearable. Vegeta tried to remain silent, but it never took Frieza too much to rediscover his weak points, thus making him cry and scream in just a few minutes._

 _It was one of the first times he used the iron fists, and it was so unbelievably painful. The metal making his bones give in, digging into his sensitive skin, busting his lips and temples open._

 _He also used a belt to whip him to shreds. He wasn't as scared of belts as he was of whips, but they were still painful. When Frieza looped it around itself and the leather crashed against his skin, it felt like he was being burned alive. He knew horrible bruises and welts would remain. And then he would use the buckle, on top of the previous wounds, making it dig into his body; making him bleed and hurt and cry, whimpering pathetically._

 _When he dropped the bloodied belt to the floor and removed the iron knuckles, Vegeta hoped he was done. He didn't seem angry, at him or at his job. He didn't seem happy either. He just seemed... calm. Which Vegeta hoped would make him finish faster._

 _He got a small ray of hope when Frieza untied his hands and let him fall to his hands and knees, panting and trying to subdue his sobs. It was odd, though. The bastard never stopped until Vegeta could hardly breathe or was unconscious._

 _Sure, this time he had been vicious and Vegeta was in horrendous amounts of pain, but he thought he could still walk. Or at least crawl. He could still breathe, which meant his ribs weren't broken... Well, maybe he had a broken one, but at least it wasn't his whole ribcage. And he wasn't coughing blood. Coughing, sure. But not blood, which was a feat for both him and Frieza since he had been hit in the stomach several times during the whole exchange._

 _"Sometimes, I think you'd be much better off dead." Frieza said. There was no mocking tone in his voice. There was just pure hatred. No anger or happiness at making him feel miserable. Just pure, unadulterated hatred in his voice. It somehow made Vegeta shudder even more. "Don't you agree? Nobody would miss you. Except for those two runts up there, and only in some sort of sick obligation, just because they see you as a father figure of sorts. If you ask me, your whole life is sick. Your whole existence is useless. You're nothing but a burden. To your mom, to Child Services, and the police, and your teachers, and your father's friends... even to your closest friends. Why do you think nobody reaches a hand out to help you further?"_

 _Vegeta's eyes filled with tears, but he ignored his pain completely as he got on his feet, stumbling backwards, dizzily. The world spun around him and he fell once again to one knee. He probably had a concussion, from Frieza bashing his head in against the wall and then with his fists. He wanted to throw up.  
_

 _"Fuck off." He breathed._

 _And then Frieza smiled. He reached down and grabbed Vegeta's hair, lifting him up as the boy screamed and grabbed at his hand, trying to pry it off his scalp. He lifted him until they were eye level and then he grabbed him around the neck with his free hand, constricting his air flow. Vegeta opened his eyes wide, staring at him. And when he saw that his tormentor was finally smiling, his fear intensified._

 _"I'm the sole reason you're still breathing. Without me, you're nothing."_

 _He didn't release the boy. He kept his hold on the violently struggling, gasping boy as he exited the basement and went up the stairs. He walked into Vegeta's bathroom and threw him to the floor, to crash into the tiles. He coughed and sobbed as oxygen returned to his body._

 _He panicked, then, as Frieza turned on the faucet of the tub and began to fill it up. He could almost read Frieza's mind. He tried to get up, but he was in too much pain. His head was spinning and at least one rib was definitely broken. He tried to drag himself away, panickinh. Frieza saw his efforts and, with an insane smile, grabbed the boy from the back of his head, his fingers twisting into his hair, and slammed his forehead against the rim of the tub. Vegeta cried out, stars exploding inside his head and in his vision, feeing like his entire skull had been split into two. How he wished he could've passed out... or died, as Frieza suggested._

 _He regained his vision a while later, staring at the red splat of blood on the white rim of the tub... but he still couldn't move much more than just thrashing about a little. His head was screaming in pain and he couldn't concentrate enough to get his limbs to respond._

 _And then Frieza grabbed the back of his head again, and dunked his head into the freezing water._

 _At first, Vegeta was too disoriented to even begin to struggle... but then he needed oxygen. His lungs were burning. His body began flailing madly, his hands grasping the edge of the tub but slipping, his back bowing and shaking, intensifying the pain of his injuries._

 _Was Frieza going to actually kill him?_

 _Just as the strength began to leave his body, he was pulled up. He gasped madly, coughing horribly and choking; shaking in despair; his torso shrieked in pain from the efforts of taking harsh breaths. He wasn't given much time to recover before he found himself underwater again. He struggled once more, water sloshing down the edges of the tub, soaking him and Frieza, but the bastard hardly cared. Vegeta was sure that if he wasn't being held underwater, his eyes would be swimming with tears. He tried to use his arm to swat Frieza away, but it only made things worse as the monster grabbed his wrist and twisted it behind his back, making him scream underwater, making him inhale water._

 _He was taken out again, gasping, choking, coughing. He threw up the water in his lungs and couldn't stop the contractions of his chest, no matter how much his ribs and throat hurt. He vaguely wondered if the maids could hear the horrible sounds of him struggling to breathe; his desperate, painful gasps. Sobbing and coughing and panting... Whimpering like a child. Like the child he was. Frieza twisted his arm furhter, laughing, making him wail between his gasps, before he was underwater again. His lungs protested. He was going to burst._

 _Each time the bastard took him out, Vegeta had less energy left in him. He thrashed less, struggled less. He cried more, and whimpered more. His arm was twisted further and he thought it might've been dislocated at that point._

 _Frieza lowered him down again, and, in desperation, Vegeta cried out._

 _The monster stopped when the tip of his nose touched the water. Vegeta was shaking, watching as tears and blood and drops of water fell into the tub, dissolving into the freezing water._

 _"What is it, little rat?" Frieza asked, laughing._

 _"P-p-please." he gasped. "S-s-s-s-stopp."_

 _"I thought you wanted to die, too." he said in his ear. "Don't you?"_

 _"N-no." he gasped. "Please, s-s-s-stop."_

 _Frieza laughed and straightened him up. Vegeta couldn't help but let out a small sigh of relief... before the bastard dunk him again in the water._

 _It went on for a long time, until Vegeta had nothing left in him. Until he couldn't thrash anymore. He couldn't even move... Not voluntarily anyway. His body did shake uncontrollably._

 _"You're so pathetic." Frieza laughed as he pulled him up one last time. He let go of his hair and got up. "Clean this fucking mess. The maids won't help you out."_

 _He walked away, and Vegeta couldn't help but cry, his sobs strong and uncontrolled. He kept coughing, water and spit falling down the corners of his mouth and his bottom lip. He was so dizzy... He couldn't move, couldn't think clearly. His vision was going in and out, the edges blackening and spots dancing along._

 _He could feel someone grabbing him, making him lean against him, caressing his face. He flinched away, thinking it was Frieza. He cried and struggled. He wanted it to stop._

 _But the voice hushed him, softly. Someone ran a hand through his hair, caressed his face, whispered soothing words into the top of his head._

 _And then, she began singing._

 _The lullaby he had sang to his siblings earlier that week... In the back of his mind, he vaguely wondered if it was just a dream, some sort of hallucination in the midst of his torment. But it didn't matter. It was soothing, and for the moment, it was all he needed._

 _And he relaxed. He decided to let himself go._

 _Before long, he was asleep._

* * *

 _He woke up on the floor of the bathroom, confusedly staring around. It was clean._

 _He looked over at the tub, already drained, and shuddered._

 _"Vegeta!" Frieza shouted from downstairs._

 _He flinched, the pain on his body intensifying. He shuddered and gasped a few times, before throwing up, not having the time to turn around and reach the toilet. It was mostly water, since he hadn't eaten a lot in the past few days._

 _"Get down here, you stupid rat!"_

 _Vegeta flinched again and got up quickly, making the world spin around him and his legs shake. He dry heaved again, but he knew Frieza was already impatient, so he stumbled up to the wall and leaned on it to get out of the bathroom._

 _As he reached the stairs, he saw Frieza at the landing... holding a young maid by the arm._

 _"S-s-s-sir?" he asked, his voice barely above a whisper._

 _"Come down here, kid." Frieza said, an insane smile on his face._

 _Vegeta took a deep breath before walking slowly down the stairs, trying to ignore Frieza's chuckles as he saw him struggling._

 _"Tell me, Vegeta." the man said as the boy finally reached the landing and stood before his tormentor. "What is one of the rules in his house?"_

 _"Uh-uhm..." he hesitated, looking at the maid. She was terrified. "N-n-not - not taking food from your stash?"_

 _"Yeah, good little boy." Frieza laughed. "Can you think of another one?"_

 _Vegeta swallowed, extremely confused, and looked at the maid again, trying to figure out what Frieza wanted. He knew who she was... She was the one who had been crying at the door of his room, but Frieza had been away then._

 _"Th-the maids can't talk to me or my siblings." he said. His heart was beating so fast and hard inside his ribcage he thought he was going to have a panic attack._

 _"Right. That's right. Not only that, but they have to absolutely ignore your existence." he said. He squeezed the maid's arm harder, making her whimper. "And you both disobeyed my orders."_

 _"What?" Vegeta said. "No! We've never - "_

 _"So you think that her cuddling you and comforting you in the bathroom isn't breaking my rules?"_

 _It hit Vegeta suddenly. He had been so close to unconsciousness that he really thought it had been a dream. His eyebrows furrowed as he looked at her. Why would she even do that? Didn't she know how much trouble they were in now?! His mind raced. He wanted to tell Frieza that he hadn't even realised it was her. He didn't even know... But it sounded cowardly, to just throw her under the bus when she was trying to comfort him. Deep down, he was thankful towards her. He didn't know if he would've been able to clean that bathroom in his condition._

 _"H-h-h-he didn't know." she squeaked. "H-he was unconscious."_

 _"Vegeta?" Frieza asked._

 _"Frieza, let her go." he said, braver than he felt. He could tell the maid was shocked at his guts, considering a few hours ago the monster had almost killed him. "She's just a maid."_

 _"So you think I should punish you some more? Instead of her?"_

 _"You already punished me!" he shouted, losing control. Lately, anger was taking over his fear inside his head. Self-preservation wasn't enough to keep him under control. Frieza just made him so angry. "You already tortured me today! You nearly drowned me in my own bathtub! Isn't that enough for you, you sadistic freak?!"_

 _The maid began crying again, no doubt extremely worried about him._

 _Frieza smiled sadistically._

 _"She has a son, just like you." Frieza said, hitting his weakest spot. Vegeta's eyebrows furrowed, his mouth going dry. "But she disobeyed me. I know you didn't, Vegeta, because I saw you nearly passing out after I pulled you out of the tub."_

 _He let go of the maid and walked closer to him. Vegeta stepped back, but Frieza reached him in a few strides and, suddenly, punched him in the head, rendering him unconscious._

 _When he woke up, he was on the floor, and Frieza was sitting on the steps next to him._

 _"Morning, sleepy head." he said. Vegeta looked around and tried to sit up, heaving a few times. Everything around him was spinning. He probably had a concussion... and his arm was definitely dislocated. "Vegeta, I take my rules very seriously. You're my little nephew, so I just knock you around when you disobey." Vegeta glared at him, his stomach knotting in anxious fear._

'More like torture me for hours, you sick bastard.' _he thought._

 _"But the maids... I don't care about them, they're disposable to me, so them disobeying me is just... the end for them." he said. "I killed her, in case you were wondering. Or, should I say, you got her killed."_

 _Vegeta was stunned, shocked. He could feel his face paling. He felt dizzy again._

 _"I... I didn't..."_

 _"The people close to you always suffer. Can't you see? You're just a burden, a liability. She got too close to you and you ended up killing her."_

 _"I-I wasn't... We weren't close! I didn't even know her name!" he protested. He didn't know why he protested. It wasn't like Frieza would end up agreeing with him and leaving him alone._

 _"No matter. She cared for you. She cuddled you and sang to you. And now she's dead. And her son is an orphan now... All because of you. See, if you didn't exist, she'd still be alive. She would come home tonight to her little boy. She would have a future." he said._

 _A sob broke through Vegeta's chest. Not another one... Not another soul on his conscience. He hadn't done anything! Frieza got up and went upstairs, leaving Vegeta crying on the floor... hating himself._

* * *

"Hey, you." Bulma said from the door.

Vegeta was sitting on a chair in Bulla's room, holding her close to him.

"Hey."

"What were you thinking? You seemed troubled."

"Just..." he sighed. He had gotten very good at ignoring his stupid memories and now they were attacking him all the time. "It doesn't matter."

"Looks like you were having a flashback again." she said softly. She knew him to much. Vegeta swallowed and nodded.

"I was."

"Do you want to talk about it?"

Vegeta rolled his eyes and shook his head. His siblings and Kuriza were awake already, and could hear them. Bulma seemed to read his mind, because she closed the door behind her and walked up to him. She kneeled on the floor, in front o him, and smiled.

"Tell me." she prodded, softly.

"Frieza tortured me for hours and then tried to convince me that I had killed one of the maids." he summed up, quietly. He anticipated Bulma's gasp, and rolled his eyes when she did. She should be used to it by now. It had been years. "It was just a stupid memory."

"What triggered it?" she asked, looking uncertainly at Bulla, who was fast asleep.

"I was once rocking my siblings on a chair and signing to them... and then a few days later the maid tried to console me after getting tortured by singing the same lullaby to me. Frieza killed her for that." he said. "And holding Bulla just... I don't know, holding her sometimes reminds me of when I used to hold my siblings. And... one thing led to another."

"So... You've been having nightmares lately." she muttered.

Vegeta sighed.

"It's the kid." he growled.

"Maybe... you could go back to the psychologist." she said. "She helped you out last time."

"Last time I was sixteen and memories were fresh. On my first appointment I still had a destroyed ribcage and couldn't use my hands." he growled "It'd be stupid and ridiculous to go now. I'm an adult. My life is fine now."

"Yeah, but something happened that made all those memories and traumas resurface." she said. "It's not stupid or ridiculous. It helps."

"I will not."

Bulma sighed. It had been the same struggle the first time. He had refused and gotten incredibly angry. He had blown up and insulted everyone.

He had only agreed to go because his mother had insisted and he didn't want to fight her after their reconciliation.

Now it was much more difficult. He was more calm and collected. He didn't shout or insult, or get into a blind rage and punch something... or someone. But he was a lot more confident and when he said no, it was no. He simply didn't argue.

"She can help you accept Kuriza." she whispered.

Vegeta glared at her and got up, placing Bulla on her crib.

"Everything that happened during that time... I have to let it go. The pyschologist helped me but it was too hard. I was extremely angry, and she made me cry, and scream, and relive all of my memories to help me let go. I won't go through that again." he said.

With that, he left.

* * *

Vegeta went to Ouji Enterprises again the next day. He was the boss, after all.

His job kept his mind away from stupid memories and raging thoughts about Kuriza and Frieza.

As he exited a very boring and stressful business meeting in which he realised that over half his employees were incompetent idiots. And so were his associates.

He walked into his office and sighed, looking out the window, trying to get calm.

Luck, once again, wasn't on his side.

It seldom ever was.

 _"Mr. Ouji."_ his secretary said from the intercom. _"You have a... sir, you have to wait here. Sir!"_

 _"I'll just be a minute."_ a man's voice said. It sounded, horribly, chillingly, traumatizingly familiar.

 _"Sir, you can't! Sir!"_

Not a moment later someone walked into his office.

Vegeta instantly knew who he was. He glared at him, a look on disgust and pure hatred on his face. His secretary hurried behind him, trying to apologise for letting him in, but Vegeta ignored her.

The man in front of her was, undoubtedly, Cooler himself. He held an uncanny resemblance to Frieza, except he looked taller, more tan, darker hair. But the mocking smile and cruel eyes were surely there.

"Vegeta Ouji." he said. His voice was deeper than Frieza's, but the tone, the pronunciation of his name as if he were addressing a pet... this was Frieza's brother alright.

"I presume you're Cooler." he growled. His eyes turned to his secretary. "Leave us."

She nodded and left.

"It's such a thrill to finally meet you in person." the man said, his smile hauntingly cruel.

"What the hell are you doing here?" Vegeta growled, glaring at him, trying his hardest to suppress the chills invading his body. Trying to forget what that smile meant on Frieza's face.

"I want the boy."


	6. Chapter 6

"I want the boy."

Vegeta glared at him, trying to control his emotions. He was at the verge of a terrible panic attack. Cooler looked so much like his tormentor... and he was just as evil. He swallowed and turned to look at the window, crossing his arms to hide his shaking hands.

"Right." he answered. "And what makes you think that we will hand him over to you?"

"Well," Cooler shrugged. "You hate him, don't you? He's Frieza's son, and I know you and Frieza didn't get along too well."

Vegeta growled low in his throat and turned to Cooler again, his heart hammering in his chest.

"He's not Frieza." he growled. "And he's under my protection."

"Oh, Vegeta." Cooler said, in a tone that made every hair in Vegeta's body stand on edge. He tried to push the flashbacks out of his mind, and to control his breathing, but it was proving to be extremely difficult. "I'm offering you a solution. I know that you want to take revenge on the boy because he looks so much like my dead brother, but your morals and your wife won't let you let off some steam on him. I am willing to get my hands dirty and make the little rat pay for everything that Frieza did."

"I don't want to take revenge on the boy." Vegeta said, raising an eyebrow at Cooler.

"Yes, you do." Cooler said, smiling even wider. "Look at you. All strong and manly, and reduced to a pale, shaking memory of the boy you used to be just because my presence reminds you of him."

Vegeta swallowed against his dry throat. He hadn't realized that the upcoming panic attack was showing. He squared his shoulders and placed his hands on his table, glaring hard at Cooler. His trademark glare usually made people shake in their shoes.

"Nothing you say will convince me." he growled. "The boy is under my protection and I will not hand him over to you."

"Well, I thought we could do this the easy way." Cooler sighed. "But I guess you're more like your father than I originally thought."

"Do not mention my father." Vegeta growled, darkly. Anger began to win over fear and he clenched the table, sinking his nails in the hard wood.

Cooler smiled. "Don't get me wrong. I really want to congratulate you on that. Kudos. Frieza _really_ tried to force you to be like him, instead of your father. He hope you'd turn out different than the average Ouji but here you are, all honor and morals."

"Yeah, well. As I said, Kuriza stays with me." Vegeta growled. "You can go back to whichever hole you crawled out of."

"Vegeta, I will take revenge on someone." Cooler said. "Be it Kuriza, or you. Or your siblings." he smiled sadistically. "Or you dear daughter."

Vegeta swallowed at the all too familiar threat. In the past, a threat to his siblings would take all the fight away from him... but he was older, and stronger. He wasn't a kid anymore.

"Try me." Vegeta growled.

Cooler laughed, a horrible laugh, sending chills down Vegeta's spine.

"Did you know," he said "that I was the one who sold Frieza most of his torture weapons? Which means everything that your little head can't let go of, I have it. I do recall Frieza saying that you were terrified of whips, but even more so of electricity."

Vegeta growled and, without thinking, grabbed a paperweight from his desk and flung it at Cooler, who easily dodged it.

"Get the hell out!" he shouted.

Cooler shrugged and smiled for the last time, before exiting his office.

Vegeta waited for a few minutes before exhaling. He sat on his chair and grabbed at his chest, closing his eyes shut as he fought against the panic attack.

"Fucking Kold family." he growled.

 _"Mr. Ouji?"_ his secretary said through the intercom. _"Mr. Kold left his number for you. He told me to let you know."_

Vegeta rolled his eyes before grabbing his coat and exiting the office. He needed to get his family to safety and tell them about the threat.

* * *

They were in their house. Vegeta had picked up Trunks and Tarble from school and Bulma's father had brought Bra over.

Bulma was there, too, after Vegeta had called her and scared the hell out of her on the phone.

And Kuriza. Bulma wanted to keep it a secret but Vegeta thought that it was best for the kid to know that he was in danger.

Bulma, Dr. Brief and Kuriza were sitting on the couch. Trunks and Tarble sat on the chairs next to them, and Vegeta remained standing, pacing.

"Well, you're not considering it, are you?" Bulma said, her eyes wide. She swallowed as Kuriza shook a little bit.

"Of course not, woman." Vegeta growled.

"But... I mean, he'd leave us alone, wouldn't he?" Trunks said, glaring at Kuriza.

"Trunks, be quiet." Vegeta growled. He turned to Kuriza. "Look, you're under our protection, kid. Cooler won't get to you, but I need you to be extremely careful."

"We have to devise a plan." Dr. Brief said. He looked at Kuriza. He had only seen the boy once a few days before, but he couldn't shake the mixture of feelings inside of him as he stared at him. In part, he looked so much like Frieza that he couldn't help but feel bitter and upset... but on the other hand, he was so much like Vegeta when the boy had arrived to his garage all beaten up and at the verge of death. Well, except for the injuries. He was lost, alone, terrified. And there was a monster chasing after him.

A lump formed in the doctor's throat every time he remember how he had failed Vegeta. How he had assured him that they would keep his custody and protect him, and how the plan had backfired and he had gone back to his horribly cruel torturer. And how he hadn't been able to save Vegeta from the horrible torment in the days following.

How the boy was all alone when he finally broke free.

He wasn't going to let that happen again.

He sat next to Kuriza and patted his shoulder.

"Everything will be alright." he said.

Vegeta swallowed at the image of Dr. Brief consoling Kuriza, also remembering those days. A chill ran down his spine when he remembered the day of the trial and how all of their efforts had gone down the drain.

"What do we know about this Cooler guy?" Bulma asked.

Vegeta sighed.

"Well, not much. I ordered my secretary to investigate him but there isn't much to begin with. He's Frieza's brother but they were sort of... estranged. They didn't talk much and the entirety of Kold Enterprise belonged to Frieza and his father. Cooler was a merchant of some sort. He sold weapons." he shuddered almost imperceptibly as he remembered Cooler's confession. "I can't be sure if my father even knew about him."

"I-I know something." Kuriza chipped in quietly. Everyone turned to him and he blushed, swallowing nervously.

"Well?" Vegeta urged, impatient.

"Uhm... Someone at Child Services told me that Cooler's father disinherited him when they were younger and when he died, Frieza didn't even spare a cent for his brother, and that's why the hated each other. That's why... he wanted revenge." he said.

"There must be more to it." Vegeta growled. "As for now, we need to be extremely careful. All of us need to stay away from Cooler for as long as possible, at least until I can get more info on him. I already called Kakkarot to see if he can help us out, suing him or arresting him or something but if he's anything like his brother, that won't help much."

"Well, Goku should know something about him, being a police and all. Right?" Trunks said.

"Yeah, I asked him. He says they don't have anything on him but he'll look into it. If he sells weapons there must be some sort of illegal connection or something." Vegeta said.

"Maybe he has a license for selling these weapons. Sounds like a long shot coming from a Kold, but - " the doctor started, but Vegeta cut him off.

"He sells torture weapons." Vegeta said. "So I doubt there's anything legal in his business."

"How did you know that?" Bulma asked.

"He told me." Vegeta said. "That's the other thing that doesn't add up. He told me..." he swallowed and debated whether or not to discuss that in front of his siblings and Kuriza. "He sold some stuff to Frieza. Which means they did have some sort of relationship."

Everyone looked away, before Bulma swallowed and spoke up.

"Maybe Frieza didn't know that it was his brother who ran the business." she said.

"That's a possibility." the doctor said. "If Cooler was the boss, then it's likely that he worked as an anon, simply hidden. That's why there's so little information on him."

Vegeta sighed and rubbed his face.

"You three," he said, looking at the three kids. "Go to your rooms."

Tarble and Trunks rolled their eyes before getting up and going upstairs, knowing that Vegeta's tone was a no-no. Kuriza followed them.

Once he heard their doors closing, Vegeta sat down.

"Cooler said something about Frieza saying that I..." he swallowed and looked at his wife and father-in-law. Then he looked away. "That I was scared of whips and electricity." he said. "Which means they did talk."

Bulma sighed and grabbed his hand, caressing it with her thumb.

"Maybe he was just trying to scare you."

"He must've known." the doctor said. "He must've known what Frieza bought and he could've inferred from that."

"What's important is that we find out all the information we can on him, especially what exactly happened between him and Frieza. Then we can know if we can bargain or negotiate. In any case, giving him the child is out of the question." he said.

Bulma smiled at him warmly.

"That's so big of you." she said.

"Yeah, well... he might have Frieza's ugly mutt but something tells me that Cooler might be more creative and cruel than his brother so... I'm not gonna let him go through that. The cycle breaks here." he growled.

* * *

 _"Vegeta. Come here." Frieza called from the living room._

 _Vegeta swallowed hard, wincing as it hurt his throat. He was in the kitchen, feeding Tarble some apple porridge Celipa had given him a few days before. Trunks was in his high chair, drinking from his bottle. He slowly got up, his body shaking and screaming in pain._

 _The week prior, he had fucked up big time. He had insulted Frieza again. He had shouted obscenities at him while the man simply stood there, arms crossed, staring as he let off some steam. That day, he had taken his siblings to his friend's house and then, in a horrible wave of emotion and desperation, he had exploded. He had asked Frieza for some food, and the monster had obviously said no. So Vegeta had shouted and insulted him._

 _His punishment had been severe._

 _Frieza had resorted to shutting him up by wrapping his hand around his slender throat and squeezing hard, painfully; and then proceeding to punch him various times in the mouth and nose. His front teeth had shattered and his nose crunched heavily under the blows. Then, he had thrown him to the floor, pinning him down with his hands above his head and sitting on his chest, and put a hand over his mouth, squeezing his face with crushing strength. Anger soon turned to panic as Frieza didn't let go, and Vegeta could feel his jaw shifting dangerously._

 _Then, Frieza made a swift movement and the crack of his jawbone echoed through the first floor, along with Vegeta's anguished scream._

 _Even as Vegeta writhed and and tears ran down the sides of his face, Frieza continued. With insanity that only such a demon could conjure, Frieza punched his torso nonstop with his free hand, still holding his arms in place. He used such strength that Vegeta was coughing blood in minutes, crying out, feeling his bones and organs giving up inside of him. He had passed out then._

 _He had woken up in the basement, on the floor. He couldn't move and it was pitch black, but he was all too familiar with the coldness and smell of that awful place. He slowly tried to sit up, but his body shrieked; and so did he. Pain radiated badly all through his body. He could feel blood running down and drying up on his skin. One of his legs was killing him, but he didn't remember Frieza snapping it, which made him realize that the monster had beaten him for a long time after he had passed out._

 _He had swallowed and his throat hurt like hell. He lifted a hand to it, tracing his fingers over the painful bumps that he knew were black and blue. There was wetness on his throat, and he traced upwards, gasping in fear as he realized that his entire face was covered in blood. He remembered his teeth then. He touched his upper lip gingerly, but it still sent a lightning of agony into his mouth and deep into his brain. He passed his other hand across his forehead, whimpering as he found an open wound there, and then trailed down, finding more bumps and cuts and gashes. Apparently Frieza hadn't even realized that he was out when he continued bashing his face in._

 _He swallowed again, a huge lump forming in his throat, as he pulled his body into a sitting position, crying out at the pain, and sat with his back against the wall. His leg was radiating horrible pain, but he couldn't tell if it was broken or not. He couldn't see anything. Tears began streaming down his face and sobs followed soon after. The pain in his body was absurd... but he was also starving, which was the main reason why he had gotten in trouble in the first place. And he realized then that there were few things worse than waking up covered in blood without knowing exactly what had happened. What had been done to him._

 _Frieza had left him in the basement for two days, without medical attention, food, water, or light of any sort. Granted, he hadn't hurt him any further... but it didn't make matters any better. When the man had taken him out of the basement, Vegeta was at the verge of dying from hunger, dehydration, severe blood loss and suffocation. He had taken him to a hospital then, where they operated on his teeth, fixed his jaw and put his leg in a cast. It was broken indeed._

 _It did nothing to keep Frieza away, though. He stayed off of his face and legs, but still whipped him severely and punched his damaged ribs further._

 _He was pulled out of his flashback by the urgency of the situation._

 _He grabbed the crutch from the back of his chair and walked into the living room, his eyes already watering in horrid pain._

 _Frieza was reading a book. Vegeta had wanted to leave the house as soon as he had realized that the monster intended to stay home, but his limited movements weren't helping._

 _The man looked up and smiled._

 _"How are you feeling?"_

 _Vegeta swallowed, his eyes squinting in anger. He couldn't talk very much, due to his healing jaw and teeth, and the bastard knew it._

 _"F-fine." he whispered, wincing at the horrible pain in his face._

 _"You don't look so good." Frieza said, mocking him. He got up and Vegeta flinched, almost loosing his balance. "Oh, don't fall now. We wouldn't want another trip to the hospital would we?"_

 _Vegeta shook his head, trying to stay still as the monster approached him._

 _"What you pulled a few days before was unacceptable." Frieza said. Vegeta's eyes widened as Frieza's eyes filled with anger. "And you never really apologized."_

 _"I...I..." he stuttered._

 _"You didn't think that after everything you told me, a simple beating would suffice as punishment, did you?" he said cruelly._

 _Vegeta's eyebrows furrowed. What more could Frieza do to him? He couldn't walk, couldn't talk, could barely eat... his back was ripped open, his ribs were shattered, his face and neck were so bruised that he had a hard time swallowing or even seeing. What did the monster want? What now?_

 _His resolve was fading._

 _He was in so much pain..._

 _"It's simple." Frieza said, as if reading his mind. "Get on your knees, and beg for forgiveness. If I'm convinced, I will leave you alone. If not, well... let's say this day will get very unpleasant for you."_

 _Vegeta glared at Frieza. He couldn't kneel down with the state his leg was in, and he most certainly would not beg for forgiveness._

 _"No." he growled._

 _Frieza grabbed his face, putting pressure on his jaw, and Vegeta cried out, his eyes watering._

 _"Have you not learned your lesson, little rat?" he growled in his face._

 _A strained sob escaped Vegeta's throat at the pain on his face._

 _"N-no. No." he repeated. He didn't know what he was saying no to. Frieza's request, the pain, the 'lesson'. He just wanted it to be over._

 _Frieza sighed and rolled his eyes, releasing him. However, as soon as Vegeta leaned away from him, his uncle kicked his good leg from under him, sending him tumbling to the ground, landing on his mutilated back. He screamed as his body was enveloped in waves of pain._

 _"Let's make a little deal." Frieza growled. He knelt beside him and reached under his shirt, finding a horrid gash that was made by the whip landing several times in the same place, right over his ribs. He stuck his finger in it, and Vegeta's back arched, his body writhing in pain as he screamed. Frieza only laughed. "Does it hurt?" his fingers sank deep into the horrible injury, making Vegeta shriek desperately._

 _Frieza pulled his hand back and pushed him, making him roll over onto his stomach, and lifted the back of his shirt. Gauze covered the wounds, but he easily ripped it off, smiling as he saw that they were far from being healed._

 _Vegeta sobbed as the cool air hit the injuries on his back. He tried to drag himself away, but Frieza kept him in place as he ran his nails down his ruptured skin, making him shriek desperately. Blood ran down, and the pain in his skull from his broken jaw as he screamed was unbearable._

 _"Get on your knees..." Frieza said, running his nails over and over down his injured back, "...and beg."_

 _"F-f-f... fuck off." Vegeta said, sobbing. He mentally kicked himself for not having more self-control. He braced himself for more pain, hiding his face between his arms, but nothing happened._

 _He looked up fearfully when he heard footsteps, and found that Frieza was gone... and then he was back, with Trunks in his arms. A horrible, cold pang of fear grew in his stomach._

 _"No... no." He said. He slowly got on his hands and knees... sort of, as his bad leg was stretched out to avoid more pain, but then fell on his face._

 _"Physical pain only seems to bring out your potty mouth." Frieza said, smiling sadistically. "But if the ones receiving the pain were your siblings... well, I think it would make a big difference. Shall we try?"_

 _Vegeta began crying then, desperate._

 _"No, no!" he said. He grabbed the crutch and used it to get on his feet, crying out at the painful effort. Then he looked up at Frieza, his eyes swimming with overflowing tears. "No, please. Please, leave him alone."_

 _"Then, shall I try with Tarble?"_

 _"I'm sorry. I'm sorry, please." he begged reaching out for Trunks. "Please, not them. Please."_

 _Frieza laughed, staring at the baby who had no idea what was happening. Trunks reached out for Vegeta, smiling, making garbled sounds._

 _"This is too much! They will always be your weak spot." Frieza_ _said, as he traced his bloodied hand down the baby's cheek._

 _"Frieza, don't... don't. I'll do anything, please."_

 _Desperation was choking him like a vice. He reached out again, but Frieza simply laughed and stepped back._

 _"Do as I say." the man said._

 _"I... I can't kneel. My leg..." he tried to explain, but Frieza's cold eyes showed no mercy. He sobbed as he slowly knelt down, using the crutch as support. His broken leg screamed. He whimpered, sobbing at the pain. Once his knees touched the floor, he looked up at Frieza, pleadingly._

 _"I'm listening." Frieza said._

 _"P-please. Please. Please forgive me." he said._

 _"I'm not convinced." Frieza said._

 _"Please" he sobbed. "I'm sorry. I-I won't insult you again, please."_

 _"Oh, this is so beautiful. Your pride, reduced to ashes." Frieza laughed. He left the baby on the couch, where he began whimpering, his little arms reaching out for Vegeta._

 _Vegeta, in turn, tried to reach out to him, but Frieza stopped him with a hard kick to the back of his head. He was once again, sprawled on the floor. Frieza's foot on the back of his neck._

 _"Your stupid love for those kids will be your undoing." Frieza growled._

* * *

Vegeta stared listlessly at his own reflection in the bathroom. He had taken a bath to relieve some tension, but the memories still attacked him.

He would always worry about his siblings... but nobody had threatened them in a very long time, and it terrified him. It was and would always be his weak spot. Frieza had torn him apart to try to get reactions out of him, but nothing ever worked as good as threatening the kids. And Cooler knew it.

Bulma knocked on the door of the bathroom and then opened.

"Are you alright?" she asked, softly.

"No." he confessed. "I feel... trapped."

"Trapped?"

"Cooler looks so much like Frieza, and this time the evil eyes are included. And him threatening my siblings is... it takes me back." he said in a low voice, not taking his eyes off of his reflection.

"But you're not a boy anymore. This time, you can fight back."

Vegeta swallowed thickly, turning to look at her.

"My father couldn't." he said. "And it terrifies me to think that I won't be able to, either. It's the same story all over again. The Kold bastard threatens the Ouji and then kills him, taking in his heirs as revenge... Three kids and a baby."

"It's different this time." she said softly.

"No, it's not." he said. "And I hadn't been so scared since I lived with that bastard."

"We won't let him beat us." Bulma said.

"It's just... I don't want to give him the kid, but I don't know if his safety is worth jeopardizing my siblings' and Bulla's lives." he said.

"Do you really want Cooler to win?" she said, putting a hand on his shoulder. "You father wouldn't have wanted that."

"Which led to him dying and me living in literal hell." Vegeta answered.

"Vegeta..." Bulma sighed.

"But no." he interrupted her. "Cooler won't win. We won't let him."

Bulma smiled proudly.


End file.
